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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27793369">and i don't know if i'd stay with you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/plzu/pseuds/plzu'>plzu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(they're in their 30s), Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale - Freeform, Canon Compliant, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan - Freeform, F/M, Slow Romance, aged up carlisle and esme, high probability that edward will be bullied, idk how long i'll be able to keep this up, jasper hale is a confederate and we will have to confront that, taking liberations with certain characters and their personalities</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:53:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>33,582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27793369</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/plzu/pseuds/plzu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ava Nieves moves to Forks to an attempt to escape life back at home, completely unaware of the potential danger that awaits her in this new town. Emmett Cullen meets his third blood singer and has to resist the overwhelming desire to kill this one, for his family's sake.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Emmett Cullen/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. New Girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i made the mistake of watching the entire twilight saga in october and have inexplicably fallen in love with emmett cullen. there's not enough emmett/oc content out there to satisfy my, uh, thirst, so to speak, so i decided to try my hand at writing again. it's Not Easy, but i'm having fun!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The screeching sound of an alarm ripped me out of my third night of restless sleep. Reaching haphazardly towards the night table to shut it off, I groggily opened my eyes, slightly disoriented at the sight of my room that was not my room. The time on the digital alarm glowed greenly, mockingly: 6:30 AM. Sighing, I took a moment to gather my thoughts.</p><p>Today was the first day of my Junior year, which I would be starting in a new school, in a new town, and in a completely different time zone. Back at home, in New York, I’d at least get to look forward to seeing my friends again, giddily comparing our class schedules. Here, though, in Forks, Washington, I was going to have to face the first day of the school year alone.</p><p>I finally forced myself into an upright position, stretching my arms up and up until I heard a satisfying ‘pop!’ Content, I dragged myself out of bed and opened the blinds on the window to reveal the misty, woodsy outdoors. The meager gray, morning light gently illuminated my surroundings. Not that there was much to see. I stood in the center of a small bedroom, the white walls bare, with the exception of a framed illustration of a Puerto Rican tree frog playing the guitar. It hung over the twin sized bed, which was pressed against the wall to the left of the window. On the wall opposite the bed and picture frame was a wooden oak dresser, which still had one or two empty drawers. I hadn’t brought much of my wardrobe from home, opting instead to eventually go shopping for clothes that better suited the constant drizzly weather of Forks.</p><p>I made my way to the bathroom right across the hall to get my day started. After brushing my teeth and taking a shower, I assessed my reflection in the mirror above the sink. I had washed my hair last night in preparation for today, to save time, so I decided to forgo product. Instead, I used my wet hands to fluff up my thick, dark curls until it looked almost presentable, my hair framing my tan face, falling just below my chin. Some strands of my curly bangs clung wetly to my forehead – I’ll just let nature take its course with that part. My dark brown eyes stared back at me, still looking tired (not even a shower can fully wake me up this early). The bags under my deep-set eyes seemed to carry more than the weight of last night’s restless sleep. I didn’t mind it, though. Maybe people would take it as a hint to leave me alone, at least until lunch.</p><p>Somewhat satisfied with my appearance, I made my way back across the hall to my bedroom. I caught a whiff of coffee brewing downstairs, and it perked me up almost instantly. My aunt must have gotten up while I was in the shower. She could be heard shuffling about in the kitchen as I closed the door to my bedroom.</p><p>I had laid out the day’s outfit the night before, not wanting anything to possibly make me late on my first day. I put on a simple yellow t-shirt, the hem stopping just at my belly button. I shoved my thick thighs and wide hips into a pair of jeans. Now mostly dressed, I examined myself one last time in the mirror that hung behind the bedroom door. I grimaced at my short, pear-shaped body. I had stepped out with my aunt this weekend to go grocery shopping, and took note of how I seemed a bit wider than most. I shook my head to dispel the oncoming negative thoughts – surely no one in this tiny town would bully me. At least I’m not a freshman.</p><p>I grabbed my dark green backpack on my way out the door and bounded down the stairs. I went to the kitchen, eager for a fresh cup of coffee. My aunt sat at the small kitchen table, with her own mug of brew between her hands. Her black hair, streaked with gray, was pulled back into a loose bun. I grinned at her as I poured some creamer into my coffee. I loved her too much to be my usual grouchy self in the morning.</p><p>“Good morning, Ava,” she almost-sang, raspy voice still holding traces of sleep. Like me, she also wasn’t much of a morning person.</p><p>“Morning, Titi Vi.” I took a seat across from her at the table.</p><p>“You don’t want breakfast?”</p><p>“Ugh, no. It’s too early to eat.”</p><p>She laughed. “That’s right, I forget how much we have in common. I feel sick if I eat this early.”           </p><p>A couple minutes of silence passed between us as the dull gray morning light began to shone brighter and brighter through the kitchen window above the table.          </p><p>“Listen,” my Titi Vilma began after finishing her coffee. “I took this week off so that I can be here for you while you get used to things.”        </p><p>I nodded once.          </p><p>“The plan is that I drive you to school today, show you how to get there so you don’t get lost, and then you’re on your own for the rest of the week so that my ass can sleep in for once.”</p><p>I snickered quietly. “Okay Titi.”</p><p>“The second part of the plan is that you make a friend by the end of the week. A friend with a car.”</p><p>I blinked slowly at her, my brows pulling together as I waited for her to continue.           </p><p>“Once I’m back at work, I won’t be home as much so you’re gonna have to get to school some other way.”           </p><p>“Wait, what?” I sputtered, nearly slamming my coffee mug to the table. “You’re not suggesting I bother someone for a ride, are you?”           </p><p>“Well, ‘bother’ is a strong word, but yeah pretty much.”         </p><p>“Titi, no,” I whined. “You’re only giving me a week to socialize!?”          </p><p>“Yes. What are you so worried about? I remember how fast you always made friends. Other kids love you!”          </p><p>I scoffed. “Yeah, exactly, when I was a <em>kid</em>. I’m an awkward teenager now. It’s harder!”           </p><p>Titi Vilma brought up one pale hand to stop any further complaints from tumbling out of my mouth. “I don’t wanna hear it. I can’t afford another car right now, and unless you want to drop me off and pick me up from the airport in the middle of a school night, this is the only thing we can do.”           </p><p>“Well…” I started, seriously considering the latter option my aunt had presented. But one stern look from her immediately stopped me from entertaining the idea.           </p><p>“I’m not gonna have you sacrificing your sleep on school nights, pendeja. I’ll consider it for the weekends, so you have a car and won’t be stuck at home all the time. But not on school nights.”           </p><p>I worried at the skin inside my cheek. I’d have to find a way to save up for a car if I didn’t want to be a nuisance for the next two years. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The drive to school was pleasant. I watched from the passenger seat as the clouds clung, gray and constant, to the lush green treetops. Most would find this weather dreary; I found that it calmed some of my first day jitters. Besides, I was never opposed to the Forks weather, which seemed to be under constant threat of rain. I much preferred rain to cloudless, sunny days.</p><p>My aunt pulled into the school parking lot, and I tried not to make eye contact with any of the students milling about. Instead, I studied the layout of Forks High from the outside. The high school was made up of several buildings as opposed to one unit. A rather strange design choice given the weather here. It hardly seemed appropriate. I made a mental note to get a rain coat and an umbrella. Just because I liked the rain doesn’t mean I had to go about my school day drenched.</p><p>My aunt brought me as close to the buildings as she could before coming to a stop and letting me out. I turned to give her a kiss on the cheek.           </p><p>“Have a good day, puti! Make lots of friends!”</p><p>Smiling, I rolled my eyes as I hopped out of the car, shutting the door behind me. I waved goodbye to my Titi Vilma as she drove off. Finally, I took a deep breath and turned around. I followed the sign that pointed me to the direction of which building the front office was located. I tried ignoring the curious glances from some of the other students as I trekked towards the building, not quite ready to introduce myself to anyone yet.</p><p>Once I was through the doors of the front office, I paused. The office had several potted plants surrounding the few desks behind the counter. I walked up to the counter, having caught the attention of a large, red-headed woman that was sitting closest. She peered at me over her glasses. “Hello, dear. How can I help you?”</p><p>“Uh, hi,” I stammered. I cleared my throat before continuing. “I have to pick up my class schedule. I’m new here?”</p><p>“Oh!” She perked behind her desk, immediately rummaging through some folders. “Ava Luna Nieves, is that right?”          </p><p>I grimaced at the mention of my whole name. Of <em>course</em> Titi Vilma had me registered under my full name. She adored my middle name, and why wouldn’t she? She picked it out herself.   </p><p>The receptionist, having found what she was looking for, shuffled over to the counter. She slid some papers my way, which included my class schedule and a map of the school grounds. She showed me where my classes would be located, pointing out the best route to take on the map. I nodded, trying very hard to focus on her words through the nervousness I felt building in my chest. She looked up at me, and my expression must have betrayed my feelings because her smile was sweet and reassuring.</p><p>“You’re going to be alright, dear. Everyone here is very friendly.  You’ll love it here.”</p><p>I nodded once again, hoping that my smile would convince her that I believed her. Just then, she caught sight of someone over my shoulder and called out.</p><p>“Oh, Eric! Eric, will you come in here?”</p><p>I turned around to see a tall, lanky boy around my age with soft black hair and blemishes entering the office.           </p><p>“Hey, Ms. Cope. What’s up?” He glanced at me before turning his attention to the receptionist.           </p><p>“Eric, this is Ava Nieves. Today’s her first day. Would you mind helping her find her first class?”</p><p>“Oh, sure! Yeah I’d love to.” He took a peek at my schedule and grinned immediately. “Nice, English! That’s my first period, too. Looks like it was meant to be.” He winked and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.</p><p>At least Ms. Cope wasn’t wrong yet. Eric was definitely friendly and seemed eager to help. Perhaps too eager.</p><p>Before I followed Eric out of the office door, Ms. Cope reminded me that I needed to get my slip signed by all of my teachers, and return the signed form at the end of the day. I nodded once more before slipping out the door, which Eric held open for me.</p><p>Back outside, Eric began asking me the inevitable questions as he led us to Building 3, where our first period was located. “So, Ava. Where are you from?”     </p><p>“New York.”           </p><p>Eric let out a low whistle in response, surprised. “Whoa, East Coast. What brought you all the way out here?”          </p><p>“A plane.” I couldn’t help responding sarcastically. I glanced up at Eric, worried that I had come off rude, but he just laughed it off.           </p><p>“So New Yorkers are as closed off as they say.”</p><p>I grinned at him, relieved that he wasn’t offended, and even more relieved that he didn’t push for more. I wasn’t about to object to the stereotype. I couldn’t speak for all New Yorkers, but I definitely liked my privacy.</p><p>We were finally inside the building. Eric led me down the halls as he told me more about the school, enlightening me about the teachers, the sports teams, and the extracurricular after-school clubs. As he spoke, I remembered my aunt’s condition of making a friend with a car. Eric so far was a good contender, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to resign myself to riding to school with a boy. I’d definitely be more comfortable with another girl.</p><p>The first bell rang, and Eric and I shuffled along behind other students as they made their way into the class. The people in front of us would stop to hang up their jackets on a coat rack that was situated right beside the door. I kept mine tied around my waist – not a really big fan of just leaving my stuff in new places – and made my way to the teacher where he sat his desk. I spared a glance at Eric, but he had already left my side to catch up with his friends. I took the slip and presented it to the balding man.</p><p>"Hi, uh, Mr. Mason?”</p><p>He looked up at me.</p><p>“My name is Ava. I’m new. Can you please sign this?”</p><p>"Ah, Ava Nieves. Of course.” He took the slip from my hand and scribbled his signature on it. He gave it back and immediately gestured to some empty desks in the back. “Take a seat. Class will start in a minute.”</p><p>I thanked him and made my way to the very back of the class. I wanted to make it as hard as possible for the other kids to stare at me. But of course they still tried, not even bothering to be subtle about it. Luckily, the second bell rang before anyone could try to talk to me.</p><p>The next few classes passed by in a sleepy blur until there was just one more class to endure before lunch. Unfortunately, it was gym. According to my schedule, gym was an everyday affair here, which was very unlike my old school where gym was just every other day. Is having gym class Monday through Friday even legal? Can’t we, the student body, oppose this? There’s more of us than there are teachers. I’m sure if we all came together, we could-</p><p>The familiar, friendly voice of Eric ripped me out of my thoughts once I entered the gymnasium. He motioned me over to where he stood between a tall girl that looked just as shy as I felt, and a smaller girl with curly light brown hair.</p><p>"Ladies, this is Ava. She's from the city that never sleeps."</p><p>"Well that explains the bags under your eyes, haha!"</p><p>“Jessica, you can’t just say things like that!” The tall girl reprimanded the other girl – Jessica – before apologizing to me. “Hi, I’m so sorry about that. My name is Angela.”</p><p>I smiled up at her. I could tell her apology was sincere. I waved off Jessica’s comment. “Nice to meet you both. And don’t worry about it.”</p><p>Just then, I spotted who I could only assume was Coach Clapp, our gym teacher. I waved the slip at the trio. “Let me go get this signed.”</p><p>Coach Clapp signed my slip and handed me a bag containing the gym uniform that my aunt had ordered for me. He pointed me to the girl’s locker room so that I could change. Once in the locker room, I dressed quickly. It was already uncomfortable enough, back at home, to undress in front of friends. Strangers though? I was suddenly self-conscious about my body again. I quickly donned the standard gray t-shirt, grateful to my aunt for ordering a large as the shirt hung loosely on my body. The navy blue shorts were another matter, however. They hugged just a tad too snug on my hips. I felt heat creep up my face, suddenly missing my previous all-girls high school.</p><p>Back on the gym floor, I made a beeline to Angela’s side. She smiled down at me, comforting and understanding. We all stood around as Coach Clapp announced the agenda for the week. He gave us a choice of walking laps, or splitting off into groups to play 3-on-3 basketball. The groups would split up to their assigned wall mounted hoops. As everyone started forming groups to do the exercise of their choice, I couldn’t help but notice, across the gym, a rather broad-shouldered individual that I would have assumed was the coach’s assistant if he hadn’t been wearing a gym uniform like everyone else. He stood well over 6-feet tall, with dark, curly hair. He wasn’t at all built like your average high school boy. The gray t-shirt practically strained against his chest. He suddenly looked in my direction, and I quickly averted my gaze, embarrassed at being caught staring.</p><p>He wasn’t the only one that caught me. Jessica giggled from beside me. “One of the Cullens got your attention,” she teased.</p><p>“He’s built like a truck, of course he got my attention.” I tried to play it off cool, but the blush on my cheeks betrayed me. Jessica giggled again. Her, Angela and I decided to be a team. As we played against three other students – Eric being one of them – Jessica began to dish out more information about the other the Cullens.</p><p>Apparently, there were five of them, and they were the adopted children of Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Carlisle was a very successful doctor, and he had moved his entire family back to Forks from Alaska at his wife’s request, just a couple of years ago. Jessica also mentioned that they all seemed to be <em>together</em> together. That part just seemed like juicy gossip, though. I wasn’t quite ready to believe it without evidence. I glanced back at the big Cullen – Emmett, according to Jessica – and he moved around the court much more gracefully than someone his size ought to move. It was almost entrancing, but I didn’t want to get caught staring again, so I tried to focus on our own little basketball game for the duration of the class.</p><p>Once gym was over, we made our way over to lunch. As overwhelming as Jessica seemed to be, I was grateful to her, Angela, and Eric for quickly including me in the group. I didn’t have to wander around the cafeteria like a lost puppy looking for a table. After we got our food, I followed them to a table towards the middle of the lunch room, where a couple of other students were already sitting. I recognized them from some of my previous classes. They seemed friendly enough, especially the boy with spiky blonde hair and baby blue eyes. He introduced himself as Mike Newton and asked me the usual questions that would be asked of the New Kid, bringing his chair a little closer to mine and leaning in to listen more attentively. I caught sight of Jessica eyeing our interaction, and she would step in to answer questions on my behalf as if she had known me for more than a couple of hours. I allowed her to take the reins of the conversation, not quite ready to talk about myself too much.</p><p>Something caught my eye from the other side of the lunch room. I spotted the familiar dark curls of the burly Emmett Cullen. Sitting this far away, I felt more comfortable with keeping my gaze on him, trying to be subtle. But not subtle enough. Angela, Mike, and Jessica all followed my gaze, both Jessica and Angela giggling in understanding; Mike groaned. Jessica took the opportunity to point out which sibling was which.</p><p>“The little one with black hair is Alice. Next to her – the blonde that looks like he’s in pain – is Jasper Hale.” The closeness between Alice and Jasper seemed so intimate. Maybe Jessica was right about them dating. Jessica continued, “his twin sister, Rosalie Hale to his left, and you already know the one you keep ogling at is Emmett-”</p><p>“I am <em>not </em>ogling-”</p><p>“Sure, Ava,” Jessica waved a dismissive hand. “and the gorgeous one is Edward. But don’t even bother with him, no one here is good enough for him or whatever.” The bitterness in her voice hinted that she was speaking from experience of rejection. Jessica was a little overwhelming and forward. I wasn’t sure if I should feel bad for her or Edward.</p><p>I surveyed the Cullens from where I sat. Alice really was tiny, shorter than me by the looks of it. Her hair was inky black and short, styled into a spikey pixie. I think I recognized her from one of my classes this morning, and was embarrassed for not remembering someone like her. Jasper, despite Jessica’s comment about looking in pain, still managed to look handsome, with his honey blond hair falling in waves. Rosalie was unnecessarily beautiful, her own gold tresses cascading over her shoulders. She did not belong here with the rest of the student body. She sat close to Emmett in a way that hinted at the same intimacy between Alice and Jasper. Edward, on the other side of Emmett, had a perfectly disheveled mess of copper-colored hair atop his head. His face looked a little softer compared to his older brothers, more boyish. And while they weren’t all blood-related, they all shared the same marble white skin and amber-colored eyes, and were more beautiful than anyone had any right to be.</p><p>“Be still my bisexual heart,” I muttered under my breath.</p><p>Jessica and a few others gave me a look. “What was that?”</p><p>I stammered, hesitating before responding, “I said, they really do stand apart. You know, from the crowd. They’re so white, even for this town.”</p><p>Eric snorted from across the table, and I caught Angela trying to hide her smile while Jessica and Mike laughed awkwardly at my comment. One girl with pale blonde hair didn’t bother putting in the effort to fake amusement. She eyed me from across the table with disdain. </p><p>“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like <em>that." </em>Per se. "Just that even for a sunless place like this, they're so pale."</p><p>The table, for the most part, nodded in agreement and understanding. Lauren flipped her hair over her shoulder, unsmiling, and went on to talk about something else. I was just relieved that my comment about my sexuality went unnoticed. I had no intention on coming out on my first day. Or ever, if I could help it.</p><p>When I looked back to the Cullen table, they were all smirking, barely looking at each other. Like someone had brought up an inside joke. Emmett, for the second time today, caught me staring. His smirk widened. I quickly looked away, ignoring the way my heart skipped several beats, suddenly taking an interest in Eric’s story about a movie he saw over the weekend.</p><p>The rest of lunch passed without incident and conversation did not go back to the Cullens. After lunch, I had to suffer through Geometry without any of my new friends. I was the only Junior in my class. Not at all surprising considering Math was my weakest subject. Therefore, I was a little behind the peers in my grade. The class dragged by as I struggled to stay awake. Any time my attention slipped from whatever the teacher was writing on the board -- definitions for Unit 1, Points A, B, and C, why was this guy so bad at drawing straight lines? Hasn’t he been doing this long enough –- my thoughts would wander back to the Cullens. I couldn’t get their enchantingly gorgeous faces out of my mind. How could a family like that live in the middle of Nowhere, Washington?</p><p>The bell finally, eventually, rang. I was saved from having to fight sleep a minute longer. Stifling a yawn as I gathered my belongings, I glanced at my schedule one last time and headed out the door. My final class of the day, Spanish, was located in building 7. I made my trek from one building to the other, the breeze outside waking me up a little. I found the class pretty quickly and approached Mrs. Goff with my slip for her to sign. When she handed it back to me, I turned to find a seat and froze.</p><p>Towards the back of the class sat two of the Cullen boys – Emmett and Edward – and I made the mistake of making eye contact with Emmett. His eyes were liquid gold and so intense, I almost forgot how to breathe. How to think. How to… how…</p><p>“A<em>hem</em>.” Mrs. Goff cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows at me, motioning for me to take a seat. Emmett looked amused as heat tinged my cheeks. Great, he caught the weird little new girl looking at him several times and it’s only the first day. I looked around – the class had mostly filled up during our little staring contest. To my horror, there were only a couple of seats left available, and they were closest to the Cullens. It was like the rest of the class was doing their best to distance themselves from the two boys. Either that, or they all thought this would be a fun prank to play on the new girl. Force her to sit close to the boy she was gaping at in front of God and everyone. I quickly and gracelessly walked down the aisle, keeping my head down as I slid into the empty seat. I felt several pairs of eyes on me. Yeah, this was definitely some kind of sick joke.</p><p>I was deep in thought trying to will myself to disappear, so I didn’t hear the boy sitting in front of me trying to get my attention. I felt a sudden small gust of wind blow into my face, blowing my hair back. At the same time, I barely registered the sound of a sharp intake of breath behind me. I shook my head, blinking wildly as I tried to focus on the culprit in front of me, who had apparently waved his notebook in my face to get my attention.</p><p>“You’re Ava, right?” he asked. He was looking at me, but seemed distracted. He kept nervously glancing over my shoulder. “My name’s Tyler.” He stretched out a brown hand for me to shake. I barely registered the snippet of conversation that was taking place behind me.</p><p>“…trol yourself, we just got here.”</p><p>Tyler leaned closer to me and whispered timidly, “I think I just pissed off the big guy behind you.”</p><p>I scowled, a little annoyed that he was more concerned that he somehow upset Emmett instead of me. Wasn’t I the one that just had a notebook rudely waved in her face? He could’ve waited until after class to introduce himself. Still, though, I curiously chanced a glance over my shoulder to peek at the Cullen boys. I was surprised to see Emmett’s hands tightly gripping the sides of his desk. The look on his face -- which had seemed so relaxed and easy during gym and lunch – now looked strained with anger, almost pained. His eyes were focused on his brother next to him, full lips in a tight line. Edward was giving his brother a warning look, a pale hand on his older brother’s shoulder, as if restraining him. I gulped and quickly turned my attention back to the front of the room as the bell rang, signaling the start of class. Tyler turned quickly around in his seat in front of me. He could barely contain a shudder, and I couldn’t blame him. Emmett looked like he could kill someone.</p><p>It was hard to focus on the class as Mrs. Goff went over conjugations and whatever else. The air from my side of the class felt tangibly tense. It was almost suffocating. I was acutely aware of Emmett behind me. I could practically feel impatience vibrating off of him. It was too hard to ignore, but I sat rigid in my seat, facing forward, trying my best to focus on the rest of class.</p><p>When the last bell rang, Emmett was the first one out of his seat and out the door, Edward close behind him. Were they going to wait for this Tyler kid outside of school to kick his ass? That’d be fun to watch. I heard the faint sound of a chuckle from Edward as he slipped out of class behind his brother.</p><p>I gathered my stuff quickly, intent on getting out of class before Tyler could try talking to me again. I was in a hurry to get back to the front office to hand my signed slip to Ms. Cope. This was as good a reason as any to ignore the boy that had somehow pissed off Emmett Cullen. I shook my head. I think I was madder at him for being the reason Emmet’s smile disappeared than for waving a book in my face. It didn’t make sense for me to care so much, but I chalked it up to Emmett looking less scary when he smiled.</p><p>Once in the front office I got Ms. Cope’s attention and handed her the signed slip. She smiled at me, asking how my first day at Forks High School was. My answering smile was genuine as I admitted she was right, people here were pretty friendly. I mentioned nothing about the possibility that I thought a fight was going to break out in the parking lot. I waved goodbye to the receptionist and headed out to wait for Titi Vi to pick me up.</p><p>As I scanned the parking lot to keep an eye out for my aunt’s little Honda, I noticed the Cullen family all gathered around a silver Volvo. They looked to be having an intense conversation, like they were arguing with each other, expressions hard, serious. Alice caught me staring, then they all stopped to look at me. I quickly looked away. I couldn’t hear them from where I stood but it still felt like I was intruding.</p><p>"Hey, New York!"</p><p>I looked up to find Mike waving me over, where he stood with Eric, Jessica, and a few others. Relieved, I walked towards them, careful not to look back towards the alabaster siblings.</p><p>"Do you need a ride?" Mike asked.</p><p>Eric slapped his shoulder. “Dude, I was gonna offer her a ride! Ride with me, Ava, I can take you home.”</p><p>I laughed at their eagerness. “Actually, I’m good today, but maybe next week..?” I looked hopefully at the group, explaining that after this week, I was going to desperately need a ride to school. Between Mike, Eric, Angela and Jess, we had come to a carpooling schedule. My aunt would be thrilled to know that she was right, I do make friends pretty quickly.</p><p>Just then, my aunt’s little Honda came to a stop near my little group. I waved goodbye to everyone as I climbed into the car, throwing my bookbag to the backseat. Titi Vi gave me a knowing look. “And you said you couldn’t make friends,” she teased. I swatted her arm as she followed the line of cars out of the parking lot. And I focused very, very intently on the windshield, ahead of me, trying to ignore the feeling that I was being watched by five sets of golden eyes.</p><p> </p><p>           </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Weird Assumptions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>what gave them the impression that she cared about emmett's whereabouts, anyhow?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i really should have waited to finish reading midnight sun before i started posting this. i have 3 and 1/4 chapters written, ava's and emmett's class schedules are set, so i will have to stop beating myself up for making emmett's gym class essentially replace edward and alice's gym class in canon :| forgive me, y'all.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next two days passed easily enough. Per the plan, I let my aunt sleep in and drove myself to school. I only got a little lost once but I found my way and didn’t make that mistake again.</p><p>Both days, I parked the car and sat in the lot until I saw the familiar faces of Eric or Angela, Jessica or Mike. Both days, I made it a point to keep my back to the silver Volvo as I chatted with my friends.</p><p>Both days, Emmett was curiously absent.         </p><p>I didn’t think anything of it in gym the first time, but then lunch came and there was one less person at the Cullen table. And in Spanish, it was only Edward that sat at the back of the class. It felt empty without Emmett sitting behind me, but I was at least able to relax some. And not just me – his absence seemed to have encouraged Tyler to try talking to me again. It turns out he was actually kind of decent, and funny, and he even apologized about the way he introduced himself the day before. Though I got the feeling he was more sorry that he had gotten Emmet’s attention as well as my own.</p><p>The second day of Emmett’s absence was… weird. His tiny dark-haired sister approached me in the 3<sup>rd</sup> period class we apparently shared together – History. Students were still coming into class and chatting with one another when Alice glided up to my desk.</p><p>“Hello. Ava, is it?” Her head tilted to her right, her face patient and eager all at once. Her brilliant eyes halted me for a moment, and I couldn’t quite respond. I smiled slowly and sleepily at her, nodding once.</p><p>“You have a class with my brothers. Spanish, I think?” She put a slim white finger to her chin pensively.</p><p>“Oh, Emmett and Edward? Yeah…” Why was she asking? Had they talked about me? I just got here, what could they possibly have to say about me? Oh god, was it the staring? I made unnecessary prolonged eye contact with Emmett during class on my first day; were they making fun of me? Flame slowly consumed my face as the thoughts rapidly went through my head.</p><p>“I hope they haven’t bothered you,” Alice continued, completely unaware of my embarrassment. “Emmett is really sweet but he doesn’t always think before speaks. And Edward is a compulsive liar. Don’t believe anything he tells you.”</p><p>I blinked at her. “What? Oh, no, we haven’t even spoken. Emmett wasn’t even here yesterday.”</p><p>“He’s got a cold. He won’t be here today, either.” She sniffled. “My name is Alice, by the way. I think you and I will make great friends.”</p><p>She smiled then, and it was dazzling, and I was both starstruck and struck with the sudden urge to protect this tiny petite girl who was somehow shorter than my 5 feet. “I hope so.” I sheepishly returned her smile, and the bell signaling the start of class rang, and I really did hope that we could become great friends.</p><p>At lunch, Jessica noticed when Alice waved at me from her table and I waved back from ours. She nudged my shoulder with her own. “Since when were you buddy-buddy with Alice?” She looked at me expectantly, as though I had some juicy tidbit of gossip for her. Boy was she going to be disappointed.          </p><p>“Apparently we have history together. I think she just wanted to warn me about her brothers.”         </p><p>Jessica leaned in closer to me, eyes twinkling. “Oh yeah? Why, what’s wrong with them?”          </p><p>I rolled my eyes. “Nothing’s <em>wrong</em> with them. I don’t think? I dunno, she said something about Emmett not thinking before he speaks, and that Edward is a compulsive liar.” I paused, glancing back at the Cullen lunch table. Edward looked annoyed with Alice, while Alice was looking sweetly elsewhere.</p><p>Jessica snorted. “I don’t know if he’s a liar, but he can definitely be a jerk. A dreamy jerk.” She grumbled and went back to picking at the food on her tray. I got the sense that Jessica was baiting me into asking what, exactly, had transpired between her and Edward. But I got a warning look from Angela before I could give in and she steered the conversation elsewhere.</p><p>Spanish rolled around, and I was greeted by the oddest thing.</p><p>Edward Cullen.</p><p>I was dragging my feet to my seat, gaze lingering on the empty desk behind mine.       </p><p>“He’s out sick.”</p><p>I blinked, startled, and looked at Edward where he sat at his desk.</p><p>“Emmett,” he started again, using his chin to point at Emmet’s empty seat. “You seemed to be wondering about his absence.”</p><p>“No, uh, Alice already told me he’s got a cold.” I scratched awkwardly at my cheek. What about me was giving others the impression that I cared? It’s only been three days. I’ve only <em>seen</em> him one of those three days. And we hadn’t exchanged a single word.</p><p>Just a glance or few.</p><p>“Did my sweet sister also happen to mention <em>why</em> he’s sick?”</p><p>I shook my head no. It wasn’t really any of my business.</p><p>He dropped his voice as he continued. “He’s into some bad things, Ava.”</p><p>I shifted uncomfortably, slowly sitting myself down at my desk, still keeping eye contact with Edward.</p><p>He spoke low and quickly so that no one else could hear but me. “I hate to say this but I have to warn you. Emmett is into drugs. He’s experiencing some terrible side effects right now so he’s at home recovering.”</p><p>Ah. Is this what Alice was trying to warn me about? When she mentioned Edward’s compulsive need to lie?</p><p>The bell rang and class started, giving me a moment’s respite from Edward’s completely unprompted spiel about his drug addict brother. Mrs. Goff continued class, and being comfortable enough with the material, I gave myself permission to zone out. Who was the real liar – Alice or Edward? And if so, why lie? What purpose was there to lie to the new girl that hadn’t had a single conversation with the Cullen siblings before today? Is this a bizarre hazing ritual at Forks High School? Get the distractingly beautiful siblings to trip up the new kids?</p><p>Haze or no, I decided to believe Alice. Jessica had mentioned that Edward was a jerk, and so far he’s the only one of his siblings that she’s had anything bad to say about. So Edward was the compulsive liar, potentially. But lie or not, he seemed to be putting a great deal of effort to warn me to stay away from his brother.</p><p>And, lie or not, I found myself feeling more and more drawn in anyway.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Emmett appeared back at home that night, after a lengthy hunting trip further up North. His family strongly advised that he keep his hunt as far as was necessary, and he hadn’t argued; they made up about 90% of his impulse control.</p><p>He zipped in through the back door and immediately noticed Edward sitting on the couch, hunched over his lap, face completely hidden behind his hands. The source of his agony sat cross-legged beside him, smiling triumphantly.          </p><p>A grin slowly spread across Emmett’s face. “Alright, what’d I miss?”         </p><p>“Alice is getting her way,” Edward groaned, voice muffled behind his hands.           </p><p>Alice rolled her eyes, still smiling cheekily. “It’s in everyone’s best interest.”        </p><p>The rest of the family appeared in the spacious room on the first floor as Edward and Alice began catching Emmett up to speed with their plans on how to best handle the situation of Emmett’s insatiable thirst that didn’t involve Emmett luring the girl away from the school to quietly end her life. That was Emmett’s first choice, anyway. After all, this wasn’t the first time a scent had captivated him so blindly that the bloodlust overtook him.          </p><p>Edward and the others (for the most part) were against this. Especially Rosalie. They’d only been here for two years, and didn’t want to go through the hassle of picking up and leaving and starting all over again. He was able to refrain himself so far for Rose’s sake, if anything else. He owed her and Carlisle his life.          </p><p>Then Alice brought up the very good point that if he just kept giving in every other decade to his thirst, he would never get better at restraining himself. They had to set a good example for Jasper, the newest vegetarian of the family, so to speak. It was hardest for Jasper to adjust to the No-Human diet that the rest of the family adapted to. Emmett himself mostly only agreed to it to appease Carlisle and Rosalie, both of whom had somehow resisted the impossible temptation of human blood since their lives began as vampires.          </p><p>So, Alice was right. She thought the best course of action would be to befriend the new girl. The more they knew of her, the more Emmett knew of her, the easier it would be to resist killing her. After all, she’s just a person. A human person. She has fears and aspirations and a family. Someone would miss her. People would miss her. She had already made an impression on the more popular, outgoing kids in the school – Jessica and Mike and Tyler and the rest. They would notice her absence.          </p><p>Edward wanted to take an opposite approach. Deter the girl from Emmett, from all of them. The rest of the student body already left them well enough alone. All the other students instinctively gave the Cullens their space. It was better this way, safer. It made things easier for them, particularly Jasper. And all the other students got to go back home at the end of the day, falling safely asleep in their own beds, none the wiser that they all walked amongst monsters.           </p><p>Edward was a little dramatic. But not entirely wrong.         </p><p>“So,” Emmett began, looking around the room. “We’re going with Alice’s plan?”        </p><p>“Unfortunately.” Edward scowled. “Can’t you tell by her gloating?”           </p><p>“Don’t worry. Ava’s going to love us,” Alice reassured them, grinning. Jasper smirked beside her, overtaken by her good mood. The only reason he agreed to this was because Alice believed it would work. They all knew better than to bet against Alice.        </p><p>“That’s part of the problem,” Rosalie grumbled from Emmett’s side, arms crossed against her chest. “We can’t really afford to make human friends.”          </p><p>Alice waved her hand dismissively. “It’s going to be okay. You’ll see.”          </p><p>“Emmett, sweetie,” Esme called from across the room beside Carlisle. “What do <em>you</em> want?”</p><p>“Well, if we’re gonna think about her as a person-”</p><p>“She is a person, Emmett,” interrupted Alice.</p><p>“What do we know about her?” Emmett looked at Edward expectantly. He’s the mind reader, after all. Surely he’s learned something about Ava in the past few days.</p><p>Edward sighed. “She thinks we don’t belong in Forks because we’re too beautiful. She’s made eye contact with Emmett several times without flinching away, so she doesn’t seem to be smart enough to think there’s something dangerous or off-putting about us, like the other students. She finds it odd, almost annoying, that gym class takes place every day. And, more than anything, she just desperately wants to sleep.” He shrugged. That’s all he was able to ascertain of the girl so far.</p><p>Emmett mulled it over for a bit. Aside from her dangerously alluring scent, there didn’t seem to be anything special about her yet. He knew the smart thing would be to go with Edward’s plan. It was the best chance at keeping his family safe, and Ava alive. Alice’s plan was more of a challenge, however. Emmett would have to sit behind Ava in class and resist the overwhelming scent that drew him to her – she smelt of mocha and cinnamon and maple, warm and spiced and sweet, a scent so irresistible, and would be comforting if it weren’t for the dry scorching pain it elicited within his throat.</p><p>Yeah, it would be a challenge. But Emmett was never one to back down from a challenge.</p><p>He grinned confidently at the same time Edward sighed with irritation.</p><p>“Let’s get to know Ava Nieves.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Fun Ava</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Before I knew it, a month had breezed by. The dreams had not made sleeping any easier. Physically I felt well-adjusted to Forks. I loved waking up to the never-ending expanse of gray and green. Mentally, though, my mind was still back at home. Some days I awoke before my alarm to the sound of shattered dishes and screaming. But the clamor was all in my head. Most days, the noise would quiet as I emerged from the dream and I’d be swallowed by the quiet of my aunt’s otherwise empty little home. Some days I was lucky enough to wake to the comforting sound of her snores.</p><p>Car rides to school after that first week were spent alternating between Eric, Jessica, and Angela. I felt terrible having to rely on others like this, but they were all willing to help.</p><p>Eric didn’t mind at all, and even seemed to look forward to our car rides together when he realized I had an interest in comics and superheroes. I had noticed some comics strewn about in the back seat of his car, and would read them on the ride to distract me from my exhaustion. I’d tell him my favorite parts, and he’d promise to bring more comics for me to read.</p><p>Jessica was, unsurprisingly, a morning person. She had as much chatty energy at 7AM as she did during gym and lunch. I didn’t have any interesting stories to tell her, but she was able to fill the car rides with her own stories, kept me updated with who in school was crushing on who, asking if I noticed the tacky sweater so-and-so had worn the other day, and, being helpful in her own way, recommended me a product that would reduce the darkness of my eye bags. She’d also ask me what I thought about Mike Newton. I made it very clear that I had no interest in blondes, and hinted very strongly that I thought they’d be cute together. She loved this.</p><p>Angela was my favorite to ride with. On really bad mornings, she’d let me doze off, and I didn’t feel uncomfortable sleeping around her. On the days where I could muster up the energy, we’d bond over Spanish food and fluffy Young Adult romance novels. She was very sweet and patient with me, and never pried about my apparent lack of sleep.</p><p>I was starting to develop relationships outside of this group of friends. Alice and I would speak during History ever since that day she warned me about her brothers. Our chats were always short, but pleasant. Sometimes she’d ask what lies Edward had regaled me with during our Spanish class, and we’d spend moments lightly teasing her brother and the constant look of anguish he bore. Most of the time, though, she’d zone out during class. We had that in common. Our friendship was one that didn’t really leave class, but we went out of our way to excitedly wave at each other during lunch.</p><p>Walking into gym one day during the first week of October, I was filled with a surge of excitement. There were two nets set up side by side, and Coach Clapp was holding a volleyball, a sack presumably containing more at his feet.</p><p>“<em>Yesss!” </em>I hissed in glee, starting to bounce a little on the balls of my feet.</p><p>Eric glanced over at me. “You like volleyball, Ava?”</p><p>“Sure do!”</p><p>“I wanna be on your team, then.”</p><p>I laughed. “I never said I was good.”</p><p>Coach Clapp explained the rules then split us up into teams. Eric did end up being on my team, as well as Jessica and three others. Aside from those two, the other three weren’t as elated as I was. They eyed me with concern. My excitement about our game did not grant them any sort of relief that they had me as a teammate. I was the shortest student in our gym class, and volleyball was one of those sports where height mattered, regardless of skill. I wasn’t about to let their lack of confidence bring me down, until I saw, on the other side of the net, that the opposing team had one Emmett Cullen. He looked over at me, curiosity and amusement coloring his eyes. My grin faltered. Oh, we were absolutely going to lose.</p><p>But I wasn’t about to let that ruin my fun.</p><p>To my team’s dismay, I was set to serve first. The volleyball sat in the palm of my left hand. I pat it twice with my right, taking in deep, steadying breaths. I eyed the net, calculating. When I felt ready, I bent my knees, lowering the ball in my left hand. Then I flung it up, sending the ball spinning straight up in the air. As it came back down, I jumped, right arm poised to hit the ball. I felt the smack of the ball against my hand as I descended from the jump. The ball whirled furiously forward, hitting the middle of the net with a ‘<em>thwack!’ </em>sound.</p><p>Emmett’s laughter boomed out of him, his hands clasped to his chest like he couldn’t breathe. I felt my cheeks blossom with warmth but smiled through it. I already knew how bad I was at the sport, no need to feel embarrassed.</p><p>“That the best you got, pipsqueak?” Emmett shouted from the other side of the net. The first words he’d ever spoken to me and it was to poke fun at my height.</p><p>“Hah! We’ll see,” I yelled back, heart rate picking up.</p><p>“Ava,” Jessica whipped her head to look at me. “No flirting with the enemy.” I groaned and rolled my eyes as the opposing team got ready to serve.</p><p>I expected my teammates to get annoyed with me as the game progressed, but everyone actually seemed to be enjoying themselves. I think Emmett’s laughter was infectious. Eric, with his long skinny arms, was almost as bad as I was, but we still managed to keep the ball in the air or over the net a few times. Jessica ended up being our team’s saving grace – she was actually good at volleyball. That shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me, though. I think I heard her mention she was the captain of the girls’ team.</p><p>I scored against the other team completely by mistake; I was barely paying attention as I laughed at Eric for running into the net. I threw my head back in victory, laughter turning into a triumphant shout of “YEAH!” as I pumped my fist into the air.</p><p>My teammates cheered around me, clapping, congratulating me on my first score of the entire game. Eric and Jessica were looking at me like I was an entirely different person, wide-eyed. And I supposed I was – I’d been here for a month, constantly on the brink of falling asleep during most of our interactions, and this was the most alive they’d ever seen me. Even Emmett was looking at me appreciatively, eyes alight with excitement despite me scoring against his own team. I looked quickly away from him, trying to ignore the sudden onslaught of butterflies in my stomach.</p><p>Coach Clapp blew his whistle to signal the end of gym. Everyone started ambling back towards the locker rooms, and I followed suit, breathless. Coach’s voice called over the murmur of student chatter that had started up, “Nice effort today, Nieves!”</p><p>“Thanks Coach!”</p><p>“Please don’t even consider trying out for the team.”</p><p>I heard Emmett erupt into his booming laughter as he he disappeared into the boy’s locker room.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Hey guys this is Ava, I don’t think you’ve properly met her ‘cause I just met her <em>today</em>.”</p><p><br/>Eric was catching up our lunch table about the brand new person him and Jessica played volleyball with in gym today. I shook my head in mock annoyance, but I was still chasing the high from our silly volleyball game and couldn’t bring myself to stop smiling. I shoved at his shoulder as he recounted my excitement and apparent competitiveness to the rest of the table. Jessica nodded and smiled in agreement, brown curls bouncing enthusiastically as her head bobbed.</p><p>“Ava’s finally coming out of her shell,” she sing-songed, poking at my shoulder with both her index fingers. “What else are we gonna learn about you?”</p><p>“Haha, um, let’s see,” I jokingly held a closed fist under my chin in a thinking gesture. “My favorite color is green, I’m bad at math, and I’m not sure getting bangs over the summer was a good idea.” I blew the hair out of my eyes to emphasize my point. The rest of the table laughed and conversation eventually deviated from me.</p><p>Alice caught my attention from the Cullen lunch table and beamed at me. I smiled back, and caught Emmett’s attention. He held up a hand in hello. I returned the gesture with a little wave of my own before quickly looking down. The butterflies from gym were back and I was trying desperately to ignore them. Emmett was taken. He and Rosalie were an item. I should not be feeling excited any time he got my attention. </p><p>In Spanish class, however, he got my attention.</p><p>“Today,” began Mrs. Groff from the front of the class, “you’re all going to pair up and spend twenty or so minutes coming up with dialogue. You will then come up with your partner to conduct the dialogue in front of the class.”</p><p>A chorus of groans could be heard from the class, but everyone quickly turned around to partner up with their friends. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Emmett leaning forward on his desk. “Hey pipsqueak, wanna be my partner?”</p><p>“Emmett,” Edward answered before I could find my voice to speak. “I think Tyler was about to ask Ava to be his partner.”</p><p>“But I asked first.”</p><p>I looked back in front of me and, sure enough, Tyler was turned in his seat. His mouth was hanging open. His eyes darted from my face to over my shoulder to Edward and Emmett, then back to my face. Finally, in a voice that rose up an octave, he said “you know, actually, I’m just gonna work with Emily,” before turning quickly back around to the front of his desk. I looked back at Emmett, his face suspiciously masked into the very picture of innocence.</p><p>“I guess I’m all yours.” Heat rapidly consumed my face as I realized what I just said. Edward sighed and turned to an unsuspecting student behind him to partner up with. Emmett was grinning as I scooched my seat closer to his desk, and I noticed, for the first time, the dimples that appeared on his face when he smiled. It opened his features, making his impossibly handsome face look boyish.</p><p>You’ve got to be kidding me. Dimples? It felt like my heart was doing somersaults behind my ribs.</p><p>“So,” Emmett dragged out the ‘o’ and wiggled his pen between his thumb and forefinger. “What should our dialogue be about, pipsqueak?”</p><p>I pressed my lips together to try to suppress my smile at his stupid little nickname for me. “My name is Ava, you know. Would it kill you to call me by my name?”</p><p>“Ava.” His eyes, molten gold, had an intensity in them when he said my name that did not match his lazy smirk. I had to struggle to remember how to breathe. How to think.</p><p>“Ava..?”</p><p>Yeah, maybe asking him to use my name was a mistake. I liked the way it sounded on his lips too much, and I felt guilty about it. Emmett waved a large white hand in front of my face, bringing me back to reality. I blinked and rubbed my hands down my face. “Right, I’m sorry. Zoned out there.”</p><p>The smirk returned on his face. “You do that a lot.” Makes sense that the sleep-deprived new girl had the reputation of zoning out.</p><p>I leaned in closer to Emmett, glancing over at Edward’s back as he was turned away from us; Emmett seemed to lean away from me just a fraction as I leaned in, and his body stiffened, but he still had that playful smile on his face. I whispered conspiratorially, keeping my voice just loud enough that I thought Edward would hear. “I think we should write about the apparent drug problem here in Forks.”</p><p>Emmett’s dark eyebrows shut up, intrigued. From the corner of my eye, I saw Edward’s shoulder stiffen.</p><p>“And someone,” I continued, pointedly glancing in Edward’s direction, “had mentioned that you are a victim.”</p><p>“Did they now?” Emmett asked, side-eyeing his brother, broad shoulders beginning to shake with the effort of containing his laughter. “You don’t believe that, do you?” His voice dropped low to match mine, his head tilted to the side.</p><p>“I mean…” I jokingly took in a sharp breath between my teeth and grimaced. “Look at the size of you. I did briefly consider steroids.” Emmett broke out into laughter, earning the teacher’s attention.</p><p>“<em>Ahora es tiempo para trabajar, no de jugar</em>.” Mrs. Goff shot a stern look our way.</p><p>“Alright, alright,” I breathed, grinning at Emmett. “Let’s just stick to something basic.”</p><p>“¿<em>Dónde está la biblioteca?” </em>Emmett suggested. His Spanish was very terribly American accented.</p><p>“Maybe not that basic.” I scribbled down example sentences and we spent the next 15 minutes deciding what direction to take. Emmett wanted to keep it light and fun. I didn’t want to take a chance upsetting Mrs. Goff, so I wanted to keep it serious and simple. We bickered in whispers back and forth. I kept not-so-gently tapping the point of my pen on the dialogue I had scribbled about travel, leaving angry blue ink marks on the paper. Emmett chuckled, very entertained by my insistence.</p><p>“What happened to fun Ava from gym today?” he asked.</p><p>“I have multitudes, Emmett.”</p><p>I hadn’t realized that in our whispered debate, we had started leaning in closer to each other. Emmett’s pale face was only inches away from mine. His scent overwhelmed me – he smelled earthy, like the rain just before it hits the ground, and something else I couldn’t place but was as equally irresistible. It was dangerously inviting. My mind went blank. Emmett jerked back, the movement so sudden it made me flinch back as well. I caught a glimpse of Emmett’s eyes before he dragged a hand down over his face – strained and tense. But then his playful smirk was back when his face re-appeared behind his hand, dimple pronounced on his left cheek. Was I just imagining the look in his eyes a second ago?  </p><p>Finally, it was time to present. After the third pair was finished presenting, Mrs. Goff called me and Emmett up. I gave him a stern look as we got up from our desks, jabbing my finger at my dialogue. He simply looked down at me, eyebrow quirked and grin widening as he strolled to stand in front of the class.</p><p>I took my place next to him, clutching the piece of looseleaf with our dialogue written out. I took in a deep breath. When I opened my mouth to start my piece, Emmett interrupted, going off-script.</p><p>“<em>Desayunemos en mi casa este </em><em>sábado</em>.”</p><p>I gritted my teeth, scrambling to improvise. “<em>¿Que desayunan ustedes usualmente?”</em></p><p>
  <em>“Huevos.”</em>
</p><p>I had to bite back my laughter. I turned my body a little more towards Emmett, positioning myself so that Mrs. Goff couldn’t see my face from where she sat at her desk. “<em>Huevos… ¿Solamente huevos?”</em></p><p><em>“Tambien bebemos jugo de naranja.” </em>The look on Emmett’s face clearly indicated that he was having the time of his life watching me squirm with the effort of holding myself together.</p><p>“<em>Pero yo prefiero jugo de manzana.”</em></p><p>
  <em>“No te precupes. Nosotros pudemos comprar jugo de manzana para ti.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Esta bien. Te veo Sabado.”</em>
</p><p>Emmett gave me a small nod to indicate we were done. We both looked over to Mrs. Goff, awaiting her approval. “<em>Muy bien, los dos,”</em> she said, and called up the next pair of students to present.</p><p>Emmett held up his hand for a high five as we made our way back to our desks. I had to tiptoe to successfully clap my hand against his. He laughed quietly at my effort. For the rest of the class, I tried to ignore the cool tingling sensation on my left palm, where my skin had touched his.  </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“I can’t kill Ava.”</p><p>Emmett’s siblings, minus Alice, gave him a stern warning look as a reminder for him to keep his voice down. There were still students milling about in the parking lot, passing them by where they stood at Edward’s silver Volvo. Alice just smiled encouragingly up at him.</p><p>“I mean, I <em>can</em> kill her,” Emmett corrected, careful to keep his deep voice low. “But now I really don’t want to. She’s actually kind of fun. You guys should’ve seen her in gym today.” He looked at Edward, replaying the scene in gym class with his perfect memory.</p><p>Edward could see Ava with perfect clarity through Emmett’s thoughts, the sight of the short girl smiling bigger than she’s ever smiled since she first arrived, her dark brown eyes actually alight with life and joy for once. Edward could feel Emmett’s excitement through his memory, and he had to admit it was certainly refreshing to see the girl with something akin to a personality for once. Every time he’s seen Ava, either through his own eyes or through the other student’s, she always seemed half-dead and in desperate need of sleep. He had wondered what was keeping this poor girl from sleeping at night, so he allowed himself to pry in her thoughts during Spanish class one day, but she had just been wondering if Forks had any good takeout places to order food from for later. He tried to drown out her dull but not unpleasant thoughts after that.</p><p>Edward rolled his tawny eyes but agreed with Emmett. “Yes, there was more of a spark to her today. But that’s not an excuse to get closer to her.” Edward still was not on board with Alice’s plan, but Alice was making it impossible for things not to go her way. She chatted up Ava just enough in their shared History class that they’ve formed the routine of actively looking for each other during lunch to wave hello to the other.</p><p>Emmett’s attention quickly left from his siblings to across the lot. Ava had finally emerged from the language building. Emmett waved excitedly to get her attention and broke out in a grin when she looked and waved back. Her eyes widened in surprise for a quick second when she saw Emmett, but a smile appeared almost automatically on her face as she returned his enthusiastic wave.</p><p>Beside him, Rosalie smacked at his shoulder with the back of her left hand. “Stop that, stop getting her attention!” she hissed.</p><p>Ava noticed their interaction and quickly looked away, smile disappearing from her face as she half jogged towards Angela and the others, careful not to look back at Emmett and his siblings.</p><p>“Aw Rose, you scared her off.” Emmett had noticed that anytime Ava looked over at them during lunch, she’d quickly avert her gaze when she saw Rosalie. He figured she just found Rosalie’s beauty threatening, like most of the other girls in school.</p><p>“Good,” Rose muttered.</p><p>“Actually,” Edward interjected, answering aloud Emmett’s unspoken thoughts. “Ava isn’t intimidated by Rose. On the contrary, she actually finds Rosalie… appealing to look at; she almost marvels at her beauty.” Rosalie couldn’t help her lips from twitching into a smirk. “She thinks you two are dating, and she’s worried Rose will get the wrong idea if she’s caught staring at you too much. She doesn’t want to cause any drama.” As though Ava’s very existence here wasn’t already causing a disturbance with their family.</p><p>Edward’s explanation gave Rosalie the idea to smoothly link her left arm with Emmett’s right, and she rested her golden blond head against his shoulder. She scanned the parking lot for the girl, hoping she’d notice. Emmett and her hadn’t been in a relationship in decades, but if this would make the girl stay away from her family…</p><p>Emmett frowned but did not pull away from Rose. Instead, he looked again for Ava and found her standing beside Angela. She had quickly looked down and away before he could make eye contact, but he was able catch a brief glimpse of disappointment color her expression. He felt a tightness in his chest.</p><p>Emmett did not like to see her like that. And, more upsetting, he did not understand why.</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i'm so super rusty and i almost regret writing this in first person, but it's getting easier with each chapter i write. thank you for reading this far!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Invitation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>happy holidays everyone! i apologize for the delay in posting chapter 4. i'm about two chapters ahead, so i've made it a rule to only post a chapter once i've finished writing the next one. it motivates me to write, at the very least. i hope you all enjoy this one!</p>
<p>also, i would just like to take this moment to apologize for the insane height difference between ava and emmett. you see, this fic is super self-indulgent, and i'm putting a lot of myself into ava. i'm latinx. i'm five-feet-zip. if i had the upper-body strength, i'd physically be able to climb emmett. and you know what, if alice and jasper can have THEIR ridiculous height difference, than so can ava and emmett!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Ava!”</p>
<p>I jolted awake, heart thrumming in my chest. I looked wildly about, eyes landing on the time on my digital alarm clock, dread pooling in the pit of my stomach when I saw it was 7:00 AM. I only just now heard the blaring alarm and slammed my hand down on the clock to shut it off. I whipped my head to stare wide-eyed at my aunt, standing at the bedroom door, hand on her hip.</p>
<p>“You better get your ass to school!”</p>
<p>“I <em>know</em>, Titi!” I jumped out of bed and rushed passed her and into the bathroom, slamming the door closed in my haste. My aunt laughed in the hallway. She must have just gotten home. I brushed my teeth quickly, aggressively, relieved at least that she would be home and I’d be taking the car today; I wouldn’t be inconveniencing any of my friends because I accidentally slept in.</p>
<p>I dressed quickly, shoving my head through the collar of a thin blue sweatshirt. How did I sleep through my alarm? Did my lack of proper sleep over the past month finally catch up to me? Actually, aside from feeling alarmingly awake and alert, I found that I actually felt well-rested for once. Last night’s dreams weren’t loud and filled with shattered glass and angry voices. No, instead I dreamt of dimples and laughter and warm golden eyes…</p>
<p>I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I gave my aunt a quick peck on the cheek as she was getting ready for bed. She yelled after me to be careful and to try not to crash our only car in my haste. I shoved my feet into my boots by the door and flew out of the house and to the car, only barely taking note of the chill of the crisp October morning.</p>
<p>By third period History, I was shivering in my seat and fighting the urge to just doze off for a couple of minutes. The sun had not come out to warm me during my trek from one building to the next; I could probably count on one hand how many times I’ve even seen the sun since my move to Forks.</p>
<p>Alice walked into class and, once she spotted me, suddenly fluttered to my side, concern etched on her face.</p>
<p>“Ava, what’s wrong? You look terrible!” She began lightly fluffing up and rearranging my curls. I hadn’t had the time to fix my hair before I left. I barely even gave myself a second glance this morning. Was it really that bad?</p>
<p>“I slept through my alarm. Didn’t have time for coffee.”</p>
<p>She tsk’d and shook her head minutely. “Here, have my soda.” She pulled out a small bottle of coke from her bag and handed it to me.</p>
<p>“Oh, no, I couldn’t-”</p>
<p>“Please, Ava, I insist. You probably need caffeine more than anyone else.”</p>
<p>I couldn’t argue with that. I unscrewed the cap from the bottle and took a grateful sip. She smiled, satisfied, then reached into her bag and pulled out a little black envelope that stood out starkly against her small white hand. She handed this to me as well. I raised my eyebrows and took the envelope from her. “What’s this?”</p>
<p>“I’m throwing a Halloween party! I wanted to personally give you an invitation. Of course, I don’t have your address yet, but I wanted to be able to invite you in person anyway. You have to come!” She spoke so quickly and with so much enthusiasm. Her smile was glittering and sweet, and of course I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to. I laughed.</p>
<p>Alice’s invitation actually thrilled me. Big parties weren’t usually my thing but Forks just seemed so tame, there was nothing to be overly anxious about. I couldn’t imagine a party thrown by sweet little Alice could ever be dangerous.</p>
<p>Gym, however, reminded me that there were things to be anxious about.</p>
<p>Emmett waved the same big wave from yesterday when he spotted me in gym. I returned his smile – I couldn’t help it, his smile was just so damned <em>infectious </em>– but then quickly remembered that this was the smile that appeared in my dreams last night, and how very inappropriate it was for me to be dreaming about someone I could never have.</p>
<p>I spent the rest of gym trying to ignore him, which proved easy enough; he was on the other side of the gymnasium, instead of on the other side of my own team’s net. I just had to get this festering crush to go away by October 30<sup>th</sup> so that seeing Emmett wouldn’t do anything to my insides. So that seeing Rosalie didn’t rip me apart with guilt for even enjoying Emmett’s presence so much.</p>
<p>Once the bell signaling the end of gym pealed, I walked outside in the cold and wet with Angela, Jessica, and Eric towards the cafeteria. I suddenly felt a weight of fabric fall unto my head and shoulders. I yelped in surprise, startling my friends as they stopped walking to look at me. Then, simultaneously, their gaze shifted up and behind me. I turned, instinctively grabbing at the fabric so that it would not slip off, to see Emmett towering over me. It wasn’t until I looked up at his face that I realized it was Emmett’s zip-up hoodie that was draped over my head.</p>
<p>“Ava, we’ll meet you in the cafeteria...?” Angela’s voice broke through the tension. I glanced back at her and noticed Jessica’s mouth was hanging open, her eyes darting forcefully between me and Emmett. It was clear she was going to bombard me with questions once she got the chance to. Angela and Eric had to drag her away towards the cafeteria.</p>
<p>As they retreated, Emmett got my attention again, teasing. “Y’know, you should know better than to come to school without a jacket.”</p>
<p>“Oh!” That reminded me that I was currently enveloped in Emmett’s giant hoodie. I started shrugging it off to give it back, but he shook his head in protest and held up both his hands in a halting position.</p>
<p>“Nope, you need it more than I do. I’m not taking it back.”</p>
<p>“But you’ll get sick,” I protested. He quickly bent down to zip up the hoodie in one swift motion before I could continue taking it off, trapping both my arms inside. I grumbled, and he smirked at me.</p>
<p>“I never get sick.”</p>
<p>“You <em>literally</em> got sick the first week of school.”</p>
<p>“…”</p>
<p>“…”</p>
<p>“Anyway, I have another one in the car.” He began walking towards the parking lot and I got the sense that I should follow him, so I did, struggling to get my arms through the holes of the sweater. When I finally did, my hands were still completely swallowed by the sleeves. I hastily shoved the sleeves back so that my hands poked out a little. Emmett was snickering the entire time, enjoying my apparent struggle.</p>
<p>“So… what’s the catch?” I ask as Emmett opens the back door of the Volvo. With his back turned, I allowed my gaze to linger on his form, eyeing the way his shirt formed against his shoulder blades. The hem of the shirt rode up to reveal just a sliver of marble white skin as he rummaged through the backseat.</p>
<p>I faintly heard a distracted ‘hm?’ and I cleared my throat awkwardly, looking away before he could notice. “Why are you lending me your sweater?”</p>
<p>“Isn’t that what friends do?” he responded, emerging from the car with a white hoodie in hand.</p>
<p>I quirked my eyebrow at him. “We’re friends?”</p>
<p>“Ouch, Ava.” He dramatically placed a hand over his heart, feigning hurt.</p>
<p>“I’m <em>serious</em>,” I stressed, rolling my eyes and trying to hide my smirk. He just shrugged in return.</p>
<p>“Alice seems to like you a lot, so we’re friends by extension.” He was smiling that lazy, lopsided grin that made my mind go blank. However, I noticed his eyes tighten as they looked up and behind me. I followed his gaze to see Edward across the lot, midway to the cafeteria. He was glowering in our direction, mouth pulled downwards in a rigid frown. An involuntary shudder ripped through my body. I ripped my gaze away to look back up at Emmett, frowning.</p>
<p>“What’s <em>his</em> problem?”</p>
<p>Emmett wasn’t smiling anymore. “He doesn’t think you should be around me.”</p>
<p>Just then, I remembered my mental note in gym to stay away from Emmett. I started slowly backing away from him, where he leaned against the silver car, racked with sudden guilt, Rosalie’s face flashing in my thoughts. I didn’t want to give her the wrong idea. I didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea, and now Edward sees some girl that very clearly isn’t Rosalie wearing Emmett’s sweater and that’s just-</p>
<p>Emmett’s left hand suddenly grabbed me by my right arm and I found myself quickly and solidly pressed against his chest. I heard the sound of tires screeching to a halt behind me. Vaguely, I picked up the sound of a car window being lowered and a panicked apology coming through it. I was too distracted by Emmett’s face to look to see who it was – there was an easygoing smile on his face that did not match the dark intensity of his eyes as he looked at whoever had apparently almost run me over.</p>
<p>“S’all good, man,” Emmett said, words contradicting that terrifying look in his eye.</p>
<p>The car drove off after a beat. I was still hyperaware of Emmett's grip on my arm. His name escaped my breath in a whisper, and just like that he immediately dropped his hand and took a step back, all in one swift movement.</p>
<p>I stood completely still as I tried to gather my thoughts. What had just <em>happened</em>? Did I almost get hit by a car? Did Emmett just save my life? I mean, that was probably a little dramatic. This was the school parking lot, no one would drive fast enough to kill a full grown person if they hit them, but still, it had happened so quickly, and the only thing I could process was that my body was pressed against Emmett’s for a brief moment and oh my god, this crush was not going to go away anytime soon.</p>
<p>“You gotta watch where you’re going, pipsqueak.” Emmett’s shoulders were still tense despite the amicable grin reappearing on his face, his eyes only barely softened. “Why don’t you go back to your friends. I’m sure they’re waiting for you.” He nodded his head towards the cafeteria doors.</p>
<p>“But”-</p>
<p>Emmett had already started walking towards his brother without sparing me another look, whom I only just remembered was still there. I dazedly made my way towards the cafeteria and towards my lunch table. I took my seat absentmindedly between Angela and Eric.</p>
<p>Angela turned to face me, concerned. “Aren’t you going to eat?”</p>
<p>“Huh? Oh. I’m… not hungry.”</p>
<p>“Of course you aren’t hungry,” squealed Jessica. “I know all too well the feeling of having no appetite when you’re in lo-ove~”</p>
<p>Well, that snapped me out of it.</p>
<p>“Jess, ew, I’m not in love.”</p>
<p>“Fine, whatever, but you and Emmett have a thing-”</p>
<p>“We do <em>not</em> have a thing-”</p>
<p>“Stop holding out on me, Ava!” Jessica’s eyes were wide with a fervent curiosity, her body leaning in as close as she could to me from where she sat next to Angela. “A boy doesn’t just give you his sweater if he doesn’t like you!”</p>
<p>I scoffed, ignoring the way my heart stuttered at the mention of Emmett potentially liking me. “Don’t be ridiculous. You said it yourself, he’s with Rosalie, and I’m not that kind of girl.”</p>
<p>“Ugh, but that’s what makes this juicy!”</p>
<p>I shot Angela a pleading look and she corralled Jessica back with a stern but gentle reprimand. “Jessica, you’re going to cause unnecessary problems for Ava.”</p>
<p>When Jessica slumped back in her seat, Angela turned to me to mutter in a volume that only I could hear, “his face does kind of light up when he sees you, though.”</p>
<p>Not Angela too! I groaned and buried my head in my arms on the table. I was not going to entertain this for the rest of lunch.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>While getting ready for bed, I noticed a strange bruise on my right bicep. In the reflection of the full length mirror that hung behind my bedroom door, a purplish blue discoloration caught my eye before I could pull on my ratty old t-shirt. Curiously, I approached the mirror to investigate further. Sure, random bruises appeared on my body all the time, but this one was different. The shape was odd… I placed the fingers of my left hand over the bruise and gasped. This was the arm Emmett had gripped when he pulled me out of the way of the car. His grip had been a little tight, sure, but I didn’t think it was enough to warrant a bruise.</p>
<p>I shrugged and finished putting on my pajamas. Maybe Forks was just softening me up. Maybe I was shedding my tough New York skin. Ha! I crawled into bed, chuckling sleepily.</p>
<p>Emmett’s hoodie was rolled up in a ball beside my pillow. I hesitated for just a moment before reaching for it and burying my face in it. I inhaled the scent that still clung to the fabric – it was the scent that rolled off of Emmett when we worked on our dialogue in Spanish class, pine and earth and rain, and something sweet that I still couldn’t place.</p>
<p>There was no way I’d be able to return this hoodie back to its owner. At least, not tomorrow. It wouldn’t be so hard to believe that I’d accidentally forgot it home. I was known for zoning out.</p>
<p>I inhaled the scent again as I drifted off to sleep.</p>
<p>I was in too deep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>this chapter is definitely one of the shorter ones but it didn't feel like i could do much else with it. also, somewhere between this chapter and writing chapter 6, i realized that i never wrote chaptered fics before. when it comes to writing, my focus has always been one-shots/short stories, essays, and shitty poems. so, this is definitely a new endeavor for me. </p>
<p>i have things -- scenes, really -- planned, and i'm excited to get to these future parts. i'm still deciding how much of ava's appearance is going to change the overall story of the saga. will i keep the same problems that plagued bella and the cullens in the saga, or does the addition of this OC of mine shift things? i'm not sure yet, but it'll all come to me as i go. </p>
<p>thank you for the kudos so far! it makes me blush :) stay tuned for chapter 5~</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Whatever, It's Just A Harmless Crush</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>happy new year everyone! i can't believe i'm posting another chapter so soon. i'll just say it's an early bday present for myself. this one feels short to me, since the future chapters i've already written are a little longer. anyways, please enjoy this filler, in-between chapter ;)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Have any plans for Halloween? Or is that, like, something you’re too old for?”</p><p>Titi Vi was home for dinner, and Halloween was two weeks away. I sat across from her at our small dining table and was in the middle of shoveling a spoonful of rice and beans into my mouth when she asked her question. I glared at her halfheartedly while trying to quickly chew and swallow my food. She just chuckled where she sat; she knew what she did, the devil.</p><p>“Actually,” I responded, once my mouth was mostly empty, “I got invited to a Halloween party. Do you know who the Cullens are?”</p><p>Titi Vi’s light brown eyes lit up in familiarity. “Dr. Cullen actually took care of me about a year ago. I busted my ass right outside the door on a patch of ice and sprained my ankle – by the way,” she pointed her fork of pork at me, “It’s colder out now, which means more ice on the ground, which means you need to promise me you’ll be careful. Anyway,” she brought the piece of meat to her mouth and continued talking while chewing, “Dr. Cullen is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met.” She paused, swallowing her food before waggling her eyebrows at me. “Easy on the eyes, too.”</p><p>“Titi!” I chided, trying to hide a smile.</p><p>“Listen, if I didn’t have bills to pay, you’d find myself in that hospital once a week just so the handsome doctor can patch me up.”</p><p>“He’s married!”</p><p>“So?” she shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I can’t look.”</p><p>She had a point. I couldn’t be a hypocrite. I thought back to my conversation with Jessica during lunch a few days ago. She wouldn’t stop goading me into trying to admit that I had a crush no Emmett.</p><p>
  <em>“Oh just fess up already! You always smile when you look at him.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I can’t help it! He smiles first and it’s contagious.” Was she unaffected by the big friendly grin that appeared so easily on Emmett’s face? I refused to believe that I was the only one phased by the easygoing smile that had me returning one of my own involuntarily. It was just so disarming and confident. </em>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Jessica shrugged. “To you, maybe. I just can’t believe you two are always flirting so obviously when he has a girlfriend.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I looked at her, aghast. “Flirting!? Just because we’re friendly with each other doesn’t mean we’re flirting. Besides,” I sniffed and lowered my voice, “there’s nothing wrong with just looking…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jessica practically squealed and her blue eyes were alight with the triumph of being right. “I knew it I knew it I knew it!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I had hidden my face in my hands, intent on keeping my back towards the Cullens so that I would not be consumed with guilt upon seeing the gorgeous Rosalie. I allowed myself to harbor a teeny tiny harmless crush on Emmett. I wasn’t the type to try to steal someone’s partner from them (and, let’s be real, next to Rosalie, what chance would I have had?). So I was perfectly content with being friends. He was the one that had declared his friendship the day he lent me his sweater anyhow.</em>
</p><p>“So what do the Cullens have to do with your Halloween plans?” Titi Vi asked.</p><p>“Oh, right! Apparently, they’re throwing a Halloween party on the Saturday before. I got a personal invite and everything.”</p><p>Surprise colored my aunt’s face. “Oh? And how will you be getting there?”</p><p>“Is that your way of telling me you’re working that weekend?”</p><p>She smiled apologetically in response. I shook my head at her. “Did you forget that you trained me to exploit the kindness of the good kids of Forks to get a ride? I’m catching a ride with Angela and Jess.”</p><p>“That’s my girl,” she said, grinning as she gathered up our plates to bring to the sink.</p><p>After tidying up in the kitchen, I ran up to my room to try to plan a costume for the party. Alice’s invitation specified that it was, indeed, a costume party. And to motivate a bunch of high schoolers to actually show up in costume, they were offering cash prize for scariest, or cutest, or most original, or whichever other category Alice had mentioned.</p><p>I hadn’t exactly packed any costumes when I moved here, so I was forced to get a little crafty. I briefly considered a vampire or witch, but these options were too obvious. I thought about straying away from the dark and expected. What if I went cute?</p><p>I stared out my bedroom window at the dark expanse of trees that I could barely see in my aunt’s backyard. What kinds of creatures lived in the Forks wilderness? Wolves, maybe? This seemed like the kind of place wolves would dwell. Oh, hadn’t Mike mentioned something about hikers coming across bears once? Oh, there’s an idea! I could be a bear – no, wait, a teddy bear! Screw it, I was going to try to go for the cutest costume, and maybe I could put the cash prize towards a car or something. I took out my sketchbook and opened it up to a blank page to start drafting out ideas.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Emmett’s scent had faded from the sweater that I kept by my side every night while I slept. I sometimes wore it around the house, either straight out of the shower or to watch TV or while doing homework. Wearing it made me feel smaller, the way my hands would completely disappear in the sleeves, the way I could completely tuck my knees into it while sitting on my aunt’s simple little leather couch. I’d sit there and pretend pathetically, completely enveloped by the smell of him, that he was right by my side.</p><p>I sighed dejectedly. The sweater was currently carefully folded into my backpack, awaiting its return to its owner. I was planning on giving it back to Emmett at the end of the day with some lame excuse about how I kept forgetting to bring it to school. I imagined he must have forgotten that I even had it; he hadn’t asked for it back this entire time.</p><p>I wanted so badly to actually wear it one last time throughout the school day, but I didn’t want to give everyone the wrong idea. Jessica would have probably loved to see what would have unfolded had I been wearing it where Rosalie could see. It’s also why I didn’t give it back during lunch. I worried that doing so would get him in trouble somehow. I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary problems.   </p><p>The final bell rang at the end of Spanish class, and I knew I had to act quickly. Both Emmett and Edward were always the first ones out of class. Before the bell was even done ringing, I turned quickly in my seat and called out to Emmett. He paused, already standing. I looked up at him with a hopeful grin.</p><p>“Hey Emmett, got a minute?” I asked.</p><p>Edward had stopped in his tracks when Emmett did. They shared a quick glance and it reminded me of when Edward stood watching us in the parking lot. It gave me the sense he didn’t want me around Emmett. I tried not let this bother me, to show it hurt. I caught Edward’s eye and chanced a small wave in his direction.</p><p>Edward hesitated the briefest of seconds, an emotion flickering across his face too quickly for me to understand what it meant. He nodded once in my direction.  “Ava,” he muttered before taking his leave of the classroom.</p><p>“’Sup, pipsqueak?”</p><p>I looked back up at Emmett and his cheerful baritone voice, and ignored the way my heart fluttered in my chest as I returned his smile. I gathered up my stuff, pulling his sweater out of my backpack before shoving the rest of my school supplies into the bag. I handed it over to Emmett while we walked out of the classroom together.</p><p>“I, uh, forgot to givethisbacktoyou,” I said, my words almost colliding with each other towards the end of my sentence in my haste to get them out of my mouth. I felt myself blushing and mentally cursed myself. I had the lie prepared but never took into account how my body would react; I hoped my flushed cheeks didn’t give me away.</p><p>Emmett’s grin grew wider as he took his sweater from my hands, studying my face as he walked by my side. He kept his gait slow enough for my little corgi legs to not have to jog to keep up with him.</p><p>“Thanks,” he said. “So, you coming to the party my sister’s throwing?”</p><p>“Yes!” I quickly replied, relieved that he didn’t press further about the sweater. I cleared my throat in an attempt to reel in my enthusiasm. “Yeah, I mean, how can I say no to Alice? Can you imagine what she would do if I said no?” I shuddered theatrically. Emmett barked out a laugh in response.</p><p>“She’s smaller than you! Hell, even you could probably pick her up and, like, bowl her or something in another life.” He curled his right arm back behind him and then swung it forward, palm facing up, mimicking the motions of releasing a bowling ball down a lane. All I could envision was petite little Alice tucked up into a ball, barreling down a lane at a bowling alley right into some pins. I turned my face away from Emmett, cheeks puffed out in an effort to contain my laugh.</p><p>“Oh, c’mon,” he prodded, leaning over as we walked down the hall in to try to see my face. “You thought that was funny. You can laugh.”</p><p>I shook my head quickly, doing my best to avoid his gaze. Emmett gently bumped one massive arm into my left shoulder, intent on getting a laugh out of me. Finally, I just glared back at him, mouth firmly set.</p><p>“No,” I said, “no, you don’t get to be funny. It’s not fair.”</p><p>This took him by surprise. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to elaborate. I sighed.</p><p>“You don’t get to look like <em>that,</em>” – I gestured at his hulking form and stupid handsome, friendly face— “and be funny, too. Some of us grew up ugly and had to work extra hard to be funny to compensate.”</p><p>Emmett’s eyes lit up and he combed his fingers through his curls. “True, I’m ridiculously good looking--” I scoffed, biting back a smile. “but you shouldn’t sell yourself so short.”</p><p>“Pfft, ha, ha. Yeah, right. Thanks, though.” I swatted playfully at his bicep, brushing off his comment. I forced myself to look away from his face again. His tone had been light, joking, but there was an earnestness in his eyes that almost made me forget to how to think. It was almost too easy to let myself be swept away by the look on his face. But I had to remember that as sweet as he could be, he wasn’t even remotely interested in me. He was just ascribing to his role as the charming high school jock, right?</p><p>We reached my aunt’s Honda in the parking lot during our chit chat. I started rummaging through my pockets to fish out the car keys, pretending I didn’t notice Emmett opening his mouth to say something. Just then, Alice flitted over to Emmett’s side, Jasper trailing right behind her.</p><p>“Emmett, I hope you aren’t scaring Ava away,” Alice said, looking sternly up at Emmett. “If she doesn’t come to the party because of you, I’ll be very upset and I won't let you hear the end of it.” I knew she was only teasing her brother but her words filled me with such warmth. The idea that this tiny cute girl personally wanted me at her grand Halloween party was so flattering and endearing. I’d probably do anything for her without a second thought.</p><p>“You wound me, little sister,” Emmett spoke with mock-hurt in his voice as he smiled down at Alice. She grinned back up at him before turning to face me.</p><p>“Ava, let me know if he bothers you.” She winked at me and I had to laugh. I could only imagine Alice would terrorize Emmett in the way only younger siblings knew how to.</p><p>“Don’t worry Alice, I’ll be sure to report to you if Emmett says something stupid.”</p><p>Emmett blurted out a “hey!” and Alice threw her head back, laughing like wind chimes and I swear the sound of it made my heart grow three sizes. Jasper’s face eased into a smile behind her. We made brief eye contact, and in that moment it felt like we shared the same protectiveness for the dark-haired girl. I knew then, despite never having spoken a word to each other, that if we could, the two of us would put Alice in our pockets if it meant we can tuck her away from the world and keep her from harm.</p><p>The three of them waved goodbye as they walked back across the lot to meet up with their other two siblings. As I got into my car, I found myself feeling grateful that Alice had someone like Jasper that loved her so much, even if there was something off about him, and that she had a boulder of a brother like Emmett. It was comforting knowing that such a small thing had people to keep her safe.</p><p>I almost envied her.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Rosalie’s nose scrunched up as they got closer, and Jasper knew it was due to the scent that clung to the sweater in Emmett’s hand. The smell of the human girl was all over it and it made his own throat burn with acid.</p><p>This was a very big risk they were all taking, Jasper knew. They all knew. But Alice kept assuring them that this will all work out. There was a glint in her eye whenever she made these reassurances that Jasper recognized; she knew more than she was letting on. He knew better than to pry. Alice always had her reasons and she’s never led them astray. He trusted her wholly. He also knew it’d be easier to keep things from Edward if she kept her thoughts and visions to herself.</p><p>Rosalie finally voiced her complaints once they were all seated within the Volvo. “Emmett, why do you have that? It reeks of <em>her</em>.”</p><p>Emmett snorted from where he sat in the passenger seat; he was almost offended by the question. “C’mon, Rose, don’t be like that. It’s gonna help.” He took a deep breath and shuddered. Jasper could feel his thirst permeating in the car. Alice squeezed his hand in comfort beside him. She saw this coming, of course.</p><p>It had been Alice’s idea to have Emmett bring an extra sweater that day, over a week ago, so that he could loan it to the girl. At the time, it had just been a ploy to get them closer. Ava had become friendly with Emmett but still kept a careful distance from him. From all of them except Alice, really. The distance would not help Alice’s visions, so she intervened as she could.</p><p>The moment Emmett gave the girl his sweater, new visions blossomed before Alice’s eyes. Things were going better than she anticipated. Alice had warned Emmett that by the time Ava gave him back the sweater, her scent would be all over it. Edward and Jasper had shared a concerned look at the time; this seemed unnecessarily dangerous. But once again, Alice had reassured them that this was what they needed. Emmett could use this as an opportunity to get used to Ava’s scent. The pain would be almost unbearable, of course, but she promised it would only make things easier in the long run.</p><p>Jasper had his own doubts, but he hoped Alice was right. Today was the closest he had been to the girl, and he got his first real taste of her emotions. Before she heard them approaching, he had sensed a mingle of embarrassment and sadness from her. However, as soon as she saw Alice, he was surprised as the emotions shifted over to a unadulterated joy and protectiveness. It warmed him to her almost immediately.</p><p>Jasper sincerely hoped that Emmett’s amusement when the girl was around would be enough to keep her alive.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>FYI i have been out of high school for years now and the hardest part of writing this fic is trying to make up materials and lessons for the classes. what do they teach high school juniors and seniors? don't answer that. anyways i won't be worrying about lesson plans or whatever anymore. how do writers write about high school students omg.</p><p>i haven't decided if switching perspective from ava to writing third person for the cullens is cheating or not. it feels like i'm filling in gaps. is that good or bad? i just don't know. it feels good to break away from ava's POV though every now then, so i'm probs gonna keep doing it, whenever i deem necessary. it definitely won't be in every chapter. </p><p>as always, thanks for reading and thanks for the kudos!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Ain't No Party Like A Broken Bones Party</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>FYI i aged up carlisle and esme to be in their 30s instead of their 20s for no other reason than that i wanted to. also now that i'm older than they are physically it's just WILD to me that we read these books and had to accept them as parent figures? if i had to call a 23-year-old man my father at the age of 17 i'd laugh. also having them be and look so young just complicates things for them unnecessarily. they can be 30+ and still be breathtakingly gorgeous.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Over the next two weeks leading up to the Halloween party, I felt that my friendship with both Alice and Emmett shifted a little. I felt more comfortable around them both. Alice asked me questions about my likes and interests and what my school was like back home during class, and I never minded answering them. I’d compliment her outfits and her eyes would light up and she’d smile and thanked me and made me promise that I’d let her take my measurements one day; she wouldn’t say why and I was too afraid to ask.</p><p>Emmett and I somehow became an obnoxious pair during gym class. Even if we were on opposite sides of the court, I’d try to match his big jock energy by yelling something stupid only he would enjoy, and he’d respond with his big booming laugh. If we were on a team, of course I could never hope to keep up with him, but when he wasn’t being competitive with everyone else, he seemed thoroughly entertained by my efforts with athleticism. If it was any other older high school senior, I’d think they were laughing at me. But with Emmett, he seemed to genuinely enjoy being around me.</p><p>Even during Spanish, while we couldn’t necessarily chitchat since he sat behind me, sometimes he’d crack a joke just loud enough for me to hear and I’d have to stifle a laugh. After class, we had taken to walking together towards the school parking lot, where we would part ways. This, of course, excited Jessica and she always pressed for details. I usually ended up disappointing her. It’s not like my friendship with Emmett left school grounds, and Jess already had front row seats to my and Emmett’s interactions during our shared gym class.</p><p>Becoming closer with two of the Cullens had eased some of the anxiety I had about going over to their house for the Halloween party tonight. However, standing in front of the mirror after I had finished zipping up my costume, I suddenly remembered there were other things to be anxious about. For example: I was 17 years old about to go to a Halloween party that the entire student body of Forks high would be attending, and I remembered that kids our age don’t typically don costumes for fear of ridicule.</p><p>My costume was a coffee brown Sherpa fleece onesie with a hood, little round bear ears stitched to the top. The part inside the ear was soft and pink, made of satin. At the ends of the sleeves were gloves that were only attached at the top hem, above my hand, so that I could easily take them off. They were thick and made to look like bear paws. The entire thing was nearly form-fitting, only really loose at the hood and sleeves. The onesie cut off right at my thighs, leaving the rest of my legs bare, so I tried finding leggings that matched in color but it was definitely a shade or two off, and a little on the reddish side. My winter boots were mid-calf height and lined with faux fur (and I definitely planned on making use of these cuties this winter season).</p><p>To complete the look, I had a thin pink ribbon tied into a little bow around my neck. Soft pink circles were painted on my cheeks, and an upside-down triangle, dark brown, was painted on my nose to mimic a little bear snoot. The tip of the triangle connected to my upper lip in a straight line, my upper lip painted in that same shade. Honestly, I’d probably think I looked kinda cute if I was just going to stay home all night eating candy and watching horror movies. But alas, in an hour, I was going to be in a room full of people I barely knew, so I felt almost ridiculous.</p><p>I always liked to tell myself that I don’t care what other people think. It made it easier to enjoy things when you convinced yourself that people weren’t making fun of you behind your back. Unfortunately, the only time I ever didn’t care what people thought was when I was terribly sleep deprived and didn’t have the energy to care about much of anything at all.</p><p>Dressed in a teddy-bear costume at 5:30 in the evening, well-rested and terribly wide awake, I was suddenly hoping that Jessica and Angela would forget to even pick up me up and I’d have the perfect excuse to not be seen by anyone for the rest of the night.</p><p>The honking of a car outside the house dashed that hope with a swiftness.</p><p>I gathered up my stuff – a tiny green backpack just big enough for my wallet, cell phone, and house keys, and a jacket that I had no intention of wearing – and ran out the front door. I made sure the door was locked before half-jogging towards Jessica’s car. I didn’t want to give myself any time to feel how cold it was tonight. I clambered into the backseat, tossing my jacket to the other side, and buckled up.</p><p>“Fuck, you look cute.”</p><p>I looked up, startled, to see Jessica and Angela turned in their seats to look back at me. Jessica, who had complimented me, I think? Looked almost impressed and a little disbelieving. She had silvery glittery eye shadow and a halo ‘hovered’ over her brown curls, catching the light of the streetlamp the car was parked under. She was the perfect picture of a skeptical angel.</p><p>Angela was grinning at me with approval. I couldn’t yet tell what her costume was under her coat, but she had dark lipstick and black eyeshadow behind her glasses. Her straight hair framed her lovely tanned face instead of being picked up in its usual ponytail.</p><p>My cheeks warmed with their staring and I fidgeted in my seat, self-conscious, and mumbled out a “thank you” and a “shut up,” and a “can we please go before I change my mind and jump out of this car?”</p><p>Angela laughed and Jessica put the car in drive. As the passenger, Angela was in charge of directions. The invitation with the Cullen’s address was in her hand, and she helpfully supplied the directions to Jessica.</p><p>I watched out the window as the car made its way out of Forks. The Cullens apparently didn’t live in town. It was hard to tell where we were, as I was still pretty unfamiliar with any area outside of Forks, and the night was appropriately foggy, making trees and sidewalks and houses almost indiscernible from one another. The scenery was all very fitting for Halloween, a stark difference from my Halloweens back in the Bronx, where the roads were flat and houses and apartments were all pressed together. Halloween weekend here in Forks was quiet and ominous whereas back where I grew up, the nights were loud with excitement and bustling children. I couldn't decide which version I preferred, and I almost felt homesick. Almost.</p><p>From the passenger seat, Angela guided Jess to take a turn into some trees.</p><p>“What?” Jessica asked, slowing down but not fully stopping. “Are you sure?”</p><p>Angela studied the directions in her hands before replying, somewhat uncertainly, “Yeah, it’s what it says here…”</p><p>“Great. We’re gonna get murdered.”</p><p>“Don’t say that!”</p><p>“Ava, you’d tell us if the Cullen’s were gonna kill us, right?”</p><p>“I mean…” I looked out the window to the trail Angela had directed Jessica towards. There were lights along the trail amongst the trees, illuminating the pathway forward, but not by much. “Who’s to say?”</p><p>“Knock it off you two! I have to take my brothers trick-or-treating tomorrow night so no, we will not be getting murdered tonight,” Angela said, almost exasperated.</p><p>Jessica and I laughed as she finally turned and drove down the path between the trees. Angela’s directions were no longer needed at this point. Jessica followed the trail until the trees opened up to reveal a large yard. Several cars were already parked in front of the large white mansion.</p><p>A mansion, for crying out loud! There was a wraparound porch that had several decorations which consisted of zombies and skeletons and fake spiderwebs. A string of orange and purple lights decorated the edge of the porch awning. From the outside, everything was grand and massive and it was no wonder this family was a little off – they’re wealthy, and if there was anything I learned from celebrity magazines, rich people were just weird.</p><p>Jessica put the car in park and shut off the engine. The three of us stepped out of the car, and I decided to leave my own jacket in the backseat. Once out, Angela put on a black witch’s hat that she had apparently been holding in her lap and I hadn’t noticed. Jessica went around to the trunk of her car to pull out little white angel wings that she’d be able to put on once she took off her coat.</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>“Ah, fuck!” I whipped around, flinging my right arm out until I made contact with a shoulder. “Oh, Eric, it’s just you.”</p><p>Eric rubbed at his shoulder but was otherwise unharmed as he laughed at my reaction. He wasn’t alone. Mike, Tyler, and some other quiet boy whose name I still couldn’t remember (Kenny? Benny?) were coming towards us, filling the space around us with their own laughter.</p><p>“Ava,” called out Mike, “do you scare easy?” He was all teasing, eyes full of anticipation. Eric and Tyler beside him had the same look in their own eyes – like they were eager for me to admit that, yes, I am a very easy target to frighten and yes, you all should totally try to spend the rest of the night trying to see who gets to scare me the worst.</p><p>I glanced cautiously between the boys. “No, not usually…” which was true enough; Eric just happened to catch me by surprise in our current setting, was all. We were in deep in the woods at night, presumably miles away from town or any neighboring homes, and I was a bisexual minority and, if horror movies were anything to go by, it meant that I'd be one of the first ones killed off. So, yeah, I was maybe a little on edge.</p><p>From the looks on their faces, they definitely didn’t believe me. Angela, my constant and reliable knight, stepped in to save me.</p><p>“Why aren’t you guys inside yet?” she asked.</p><p>“<em>Because,”</em> another familiar voice called out from another spot in the yard. I looked over and saw Lauren stepping out of her car, three other girls in tow. “We were waiting for Ava. She’s the one that’s friends with these people, after all.”</p><p>Everyone turned to look at me then, and I just shrugged. “I’ve never been here. But, uh, sure, I can lead the way?” I looked up at Angela, and she smiled encouragingly at me while linking our arms together as we walked towards the porch.</p><p>Weird, I’ve only officially lived in Forks for about 2 months, but the rest of these kids that grew up together were too nervous to approach the mysterious Cullen house without me. It was a bit of unnecessary pressure but I guess it felt good to be needed.</p><p>The doorbell hadn’t even stopped ringing before the front door swung open. Alice stood at the entrance, absolutely beaming as she greeted us.</p><p>“Hello! Glad you could all make it. Come in, come in!”</p><p>She reached for my my free hand (paw, given my costume), and pulled me through the entrance. Angela, still linked to my other arm, came in with me and everyone else trailed after her. More people had emerged from their parked cars and I head the tires of even more cars pulling into the lot.</p><p>Alice let go of my hand and spread her arms wide, showcasing her home. Inside, everything was so open. Music easily carried throughout the entire floor, pulsing invitingly. Purple lights danced around the walls. There were several clothed tables holding all assortment of spooky snacks. There were Halloween decorations everywhere, transforming the whole space into a very lovely haunted house.</p><p>Everyone that had followed in behind us was looking curiously about, their heads bobbing in time with the music. People stuck in pairs or groups as they went deeper and deeper into the house, trailing to the food tables or the dance bar, following Alice as she showed them where they could place their coats and bags, drifting off to mingle underneath the stairs.</p><p>Both Angela and Jessica had been amongst the group that went to put their coats away, so I was momentarily left alone; these guys didn’t need me after all. My anxiety began to creep up on me as I stood there, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. My hands were starting to feel sweaty within the paw-shaped gloves, and I freed them to air them out, letting the paws hang off their sleeves.</p><p>Just as I began the feel the familiar tightening of my chest that forewarned my usual panic attacks, Jasper appeared in my line of sight. A wave of calm washed over me at the same time I noticed him, and I felt the anxiety ebb away from my chest. There was a beautiful woman that looked to be in her thirties walking alongside Jasper. Her hair, a beautiful shade of chestnut, parted evenly in the middle and framed her soft and open face, cascading behind her as well. Her eyes, a familiar tawny color, were filled with warmth and kindness.</p><p>“Ava, this is my mother, Esme,” introduced Jasper.</p><p>“Hello Ava, it’s nice to finally meet you! Emmett and Alice have told me so much about you.” Esme reached for my hands with her own, a bit hesitant. I brought my hands to hers encouragingly, because who was I to deny a woman that was radiating such compassionate, motherly energy? Her touch was shockingly cold, much like Alice’s from the few times our hands grazed against each other, and I flinched. I grinned at her to compensate for the involuntary reaction, wanting to show her I was comfortable with her touch.</p><p>I thought about what Alice and Emmett could have possibly told Esme about me, and, deciding Emmett has seen me in one too many embarrassing situations during gym, I responded, “I sincerely hope they didn’t tell you too much.”</p><p>Esme laughed, a wonderful delicate sound, and Jasper smirked by her side; oh, he knew too much and it wasn’t fair!</p><p>“Nothing but good things, I promise, dear,” Esme reassured, releasing my hands. “And don’t you look adorable in your costume!”</p><p>Before I could respond through my sudden blush, a voice rumbled from behind me: “I was about to say the same thing.”</p><p>I nearly jumped out of my skin; I was so lost in the conversation that I hadn’t heard anyone approaching! Reflexively, I spun around and extended my arm out, not unlike the way I did outside with Eric, my right hand balled into a fist this time. Pain bloomed in my hand once it came into contact with what felt like a concrete wall. I heard a sharp hiss of “<em>shit!” </em>and someone else gasped and the pain was making me feel dizzy. Could a wall sneak up on a person?</p><p>I held my right hand in my left, close to my chest, and started walking despite being unable to process my surroundings. I just had to walk away from the pain. Walk off the pain? My god did it hurt like hell. It felt like alarms were ringing in my head.</p><p>A sudden shock of cold braced my cheeks, stopping me in my tracks. I blinked through tears that I hadn’t even realized that sprang up in my eyes, re-orienting myself, and saw Emmett’s face in front of me. He looked worried, and I think he was calling my name? What’s so cold? Oh! His hands! My face was being cradled between his massive hands! Emmett was touching me! And he felt surprisingly soft and smooth and-</p><p>“Breathe, Ava.”</p><p>I gasped as soon as Emmett said my name but not because I was directed to, but because at that moment the pain in my hand reminded me it was there and it was searing and pulsing – or was that the music? Oh, I could hear Thriller by Michael Jackson, and the sounds of chatter, and Emmett and I were not, in fact, the only two people in the world.</p><p>Emmett stood up straight after having been bent over to be eye-level with me, and his hands positioned themselves from my head to my shoulders. He started guiding me through the crowd and I was faintly aware of a someone’s hands fluttering uselessly beside me.</p><p>“Ava, dear, does it hurt terribly? Carlisle is here, he’ll be able to help you.”</p><p>Oh, it was Esme’s hands that were fluttering worryingly. Her voice would’ve been soothing had it been louder than the ache I was feeling somewhere behind my knuckles. I felt like someone was missing from our little group but I couldn’t think too much about it, I couldn’t think past the agonizing pain or the hands on my shoulders. My head was back to swimming without Emmett’s cold hands on my face and I couldn’t pay attention to where we were going. I just let him guide me.</p><p>I was vaguely aware that we were going up some stairs, but I barely felt the steps beneath my feet. It hardly even felt like I was lifting my legs. When we got to the top of the steps, Esme swiftly walked ahead of us to get to the door at the end of the hall first. When the door opened, there was a man, also in his thirties, tall and blond with movie-star good looks. He stood aside as Emmett guided me through the door.</p><p>Esme spoke up again, her voice comforting. “Ava, this is my husband Carlisle. He’ll fix you right up.”  With that, she spared me one last worrying glance and turned and disappeared down the hall.</p><p>“What happened?” the man –- Carlisle, I supposed -- asked as he stepped towards me, concern obvious on his features.</p><p>“I think she broke her hand…” Emmett answered for me, voice trailing off uncertainly. His hands finally dropped from my shoulders.</p><p>Carlisle took my right hand –- which had started swelling -- gently into his hold. The change from my warm left hand to his cold ones drew out a sharp pained hiss from between my teeth. Aside from that, the cold of his hands felt soothing.</p><p>“Ava, was it? Can you try bending your fingers for me?”</p><p>I tried doing as the doctor requested, but my fingers felt stiff and the effort of it hurt, making a dull pain thrum throughout my knuckles. I whimpered pathetically and the tears that I had blinked away earlier sprang up into my vision.</p><p>“How did this happen?”</p><p>“I think I punched something?” I answered. “It was a stupid reflex reaction ‘cause I was jumpy.”</p><p>“What did you hit?”</p><p>“I don’t…”</p><p>Emmett, now standing a little behind Carlisle, facing us, interjected with a grimace, “me.”</p><p>Carlisle and I both looked up at him. “Huh? No, that can’t be right…” I trailed off, trying to think back to five minutes ago.</p><p>“’Fraid so, pipsqueak.” He looked at Carlisle now. “I snuck up on her by accident and she landed a solid blow, right here.” Emmett thumped at his chest with the flat palm of his hand for emphasis. He managed to look both amused and ashamed.</p><p>Carlisle gave Emmett a stern, disapproving look.</p><p>Emmett threw both his hands up, open-palmed. “I swear it was an accident! She must’ve not heard me over the music and her hood.”</p><p>Carlisle guided me to sit at his desk while he further inspected my injured hand. “It’s tender to the touch, and swelling pretty bad. It’s probably fractured. I’m going to have to put your hand in a splint. You should limit movement so that the break can heal properly.”</p><p>He rummaged somewhere behind his big wooden desk and pulled out a medical bag. He brought it towards me and started working on my hand. I looked at Emmett because I needed a distraction from everything – if I paid too close attention to what Carlisle was doing I’d feel lightheaded again – and found that Emmett was across the room, near the door, looking indecisive, like he wasn’t sure if he should stay or go.</p><p>“Emmett, buddy, did I really punch you?” I asked. I just wanted to keep him here with me, I didn't want him to leave. But, also, did I <em>really</em> punch him?</p><p>That perfect easygoing smile of his slowly stretched across his face, but didn’t quite ease the worried crease in his brow. “Sure did.”</p><p>“I feel like that means I should apologize, right?”</p><p>He laughed and even Carlisle chuckled under his breath. I grinned at Emmett, satisfied at making that stupid worried look go away.</p><p>“You know what, it did hurt,” Emmett continued after his laughter died down. “It hurt my feelings. I can’t believe you’d hit me!”</p><p>“Oh, please. <em>I</em> can’t believe it took me this long to do it. By the way, you’re like a brick, you know that? Of course you know that. What’re you so hard for? Wait.”</p><p>Too late. Emmett’s laughter filled the room and my face turned crimson. If we were in school, I’d have laughed right along with him. However, we were not in school. We were in his house, and I had just said something mildly inappropriate in front of his father.</p><p>Carlisle ended up saving me from myself by bringing the topic back to my injured hand. “This should be good for now. I still need to get an x-ray, though, see how everything looks. Think you can stop by the hospital tomorrow?”</p><p>“Oh! Uh,” I looked at the work he had done on my hand. My ring and pinky fingers were bandaged together with off-white medical tape, a piece of metal splinting the fingers so they’d hold straight. “I don’t know if I can…” My aunt won’t be back at an appropriate enough time for me to use the car. The only reason I knew this was because she would have left it with me if that were the case.</p><p>“It’s important we do this sooner rather than later. I need to be able to see where the break is, exactly. The splint I gave you is just based on what I can determine from the outside, but we need to make sure it’s not something worse.” Carlisle’s voice was firm but gentle. I understood that getting an x-ray was imperative, I just couldn’t justify inconveniencing my aunt or my friends for a ride to the hospital over something as silly as a broken hand. I felt myself crumbling there in Dr. Cullen’s office, my shoulders hunched defensively.</p><p>“I just. I don’t know how I’m going to get to the hospital,” I whispered, voice wavering at the end.</p><p>“No problem. I’ll take you.”</p><p>I jerked my head up at Emmett. “I couldn’t ask that of you.”</p><p>He just shrugged in response. “You’re not asking. Besides, this is kind of my fault. Let me make it up to you?” He lowered his head a bit so that he could peer at me through his eyelashes, a gesture that should have looked ridiculous given his size, but he really <em>did</em> look adorable.</p><p>Gross.</p><p>“Fine, fine! Since you’re offering, <em>fine.</em> Now can we please get back to the party?”</p><p>Carlisle frowned as I rose from my seat at his desk. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I recommend going home and elevating your hand. You don’t want to risk jostling it around.”</p><p>“Dr. Cullen, please, I <em>just</em> got here and worked so hard on this costume for a chance to win the contest. I promise I won’t do anything except, like, stand in a corner and eat chips with my good hand.”</p><p>“Yeah, pops,” Emmett chimed in. “Let Ava stay. I’ll stay with her and make sure she keeps still.”<br/><br/>For the briefest second, Carlisle gave Emmett a look that said Emmett was the last person he could trust to keep me still. The look was quickly replaced with a defeated sigh.</p><p>“Alright, if you both insist,” he conceded. He pulled out a bottle of Tylenol from his medical bag and gave me two tablets. “Take these to ease the pain.”</p><p>Emmett was grinning at me where he waited by the door, and I couldn’t help but grin back, of course. I turned to thank Carlisle, carefully raising my right splinted hand. “Thanks for patching me up, Dr. Cullen.”</p><p>His answering smile was one of genuine warmth and kindness despite my and his son’s defiance of the good doctor’s orders. “Please, call me Carlisle. It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Ava. I’m just sorry it happened under these circumstances.”</p><p>I laughed it off and waved goodbye with my good hand, the pain relief tablets still clenched in my closed fist.</p><p>When we got to the stairs, Emmett offered to carry me in that tone of voice that made me think he was joking, because obviously it’d be joke, it’s not like I sprained an ankle or anything, but there was that sincerity in his eyes that often combatted his teasing tone. I just snorted and hugged myself to the left side of the stairs as I carefully made my way down the steps, right arm slightly raised. The stairs were wide enough that Emmett was able to walk by my side.</p><p>Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, I tried to free Emmett from babysitting me for the rest of the night. “You don’t actually have to watch me, you know. I don’t wanna keep you from any of your friends, or anyone important.”</p><p>“Ava Nieves, are you trying to get rid of me?” He asked.</p><p>“You broke my hand, of course I’m trying to get rid of you.” I rolled my eyes at his fake pained expression, barely suppressing a smirk. “Seriously, though. I wouldn’t want you getting in trouble...” I thought of Rosalie’s perfectly gorgeous face again.</p><p>Emmett looked genuinely confused. “Why would I get in trouble?”</p><p>Just in time, I was saved from having to remind Emmett that he’s in a relationship with a could-be model when Jessica and Angela pushed through the crowd of our peers. Jess’s face was full of intrigue at seeing me and Emmett together. Angela’s, however, was full of concern. I watched her eyes dance from my face to my splint then back to my face.</p><p>“Ava, we left you alone for 10 minutes; what happened!?”</p><p>“Broke my hand punching this guy.” I gestured towards Emmett. Angela looked at Emmett with reproach and even Jessica’s blue eyes flared with sudden distrust as she fixed a glare on him. They both looked like they wanted to take me away from him as quickly as possible; it touched my heart.</p><p>“Whoa, whoa,” Emmett threw his hands up defensively. “I scared her by accident, and she swung at me. Swear it.”</p><p>My smile was mischievous but I backed him up. “Dr. Cullen fixed me up so I’m fine now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta pop some pills.” I showed them the Tylenol tablets still in my hand before making me way towards one of the long tables with food and drinks.</p><p>There were some chilled water bottles. I struggled to open one for an embarrassingly long time, what with my splinted hand and not being able properly apply the pressure needed. Emmett wordlessly took the bottle from my hands and opened it for me, smirking when he gave it back. I rolled my eyes as I popped in both pills at once and took a swig from the bottle.</p><p>“You know,” I started, screwing the lid back on the bottle, “just because I’m a little broken for the moment doesn’t mean I need a big macho man to take care of m-”</p><p>A figure suddenly popped up on the other side of the table yelling and brandishing a knife. I jumped up for the third time that night, screaming, water bottle swinging in my left hand. The jostling triggered a dull ache in my right hand, but I suddenly found myself gently steadied by a large comforting pair of hands. Emmett’s right hand carefully cradled my own in the air, his left hand placed on my waist to keep me still. My back was almost pressed to his torso as I calmed down. With his hands the way they were on my body, I felt small and delicate and fragile and… safe.</p><p>On the other side of the table, Michael Meyers, wearing a familiar varsity jacket, had his head thrown back in laughter. A zombie that resembled Tyler laughed alongside him. Mike Meyers lifted his mask to reveal Mike Newton’s mirthful face. However, both his and Tyler’s grins vanished when they notice Emmett.</p><p>Emmett’s lips were pulled back into a casual grin, but the look in his eyes and his white teeth bared as they were made the smile look menacing.</p><p>“Normally I’d find scaring Ava to be hilarious, but I’m gonna ask you guys to cool it for the rest of the night. Doctor’s orders.” Emmett lifted my injured hand to display for emphasis. “Better let all your friends know to back off.”</p><p>Mike opened his mouth to say something but Tyler tugged at his shoulder. I could barely hear Tyler tell Mike, “c’mon, told you he was creepy for no reason,” as they shuffled off into the crowd.</p><p>I puffed my cheeks in anger and whirled around to face Emmett. His hands carefully dropped from my body and he looked at me, expectantly, as I said, “you have a bad habit of scaring people, you know that?”</p><p>“Do I scare you?”</p><p>“Wha- no! That’s not even the point. You keep- you keep giving people this look and it scares the shit out of them. It’d be funny if I didn’t feel like you were doing it… doing it for me.” My voice trailed off quietly towards the end. Was that too presumptuous? I looked down at my feet, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.</p><p>“I just needed to get the message across. I needed to drive the point home. Now no one will try scaring you for the rest of the night.”</p><p>I guess I had to appreciate that he was just looking out for me. He must still feel bad about unintentionally hurting me. I sighed, feeling my face flush. “I understand. Thanks, I guess. Just… try being nice to my friends?”</p><p>Emmett huffed out an unamused laugh. “I’m always nice. But when it comes to scaring people, I can’t really help it.”</p><p>Something about the tone of his voice made me look back up at him. The faintest hint of sadness was etched in the creases of his brow. There was no dimple accompanying his halfhearted smile.</p><p>Ugh, of course Emmett couldn’t help it. He was practically half a giant with how tall he was, and he was broad-shouldered and, duh, his physique would intimidate anyone as much as it enticed me. People at school gave Emmett much more space than was even politely necessary, and they didn’t even seem to realize they were doing it. Some sort of instinct they all seemed to mindlessly have. Maybe their caution was practical and even warranted – they’ve certainly known him longer than I have. But, still, for all his stature, Emmett currently looked like a wounded puppy, and it made my heart squeeze regrettably.</p><p>“You know what, big guy?” I slipped my left hand back into my paw-shaped glove and tried my best to do the same with my right in its current predicament. “Don't sweat it. I’ve got a contest to win.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>link to the inspo for ava's teddy bear costume:</p><p>https://legavenue.com/products/teddy-bear-costume?variant=35989545091227</p><p>with some modifications, of course. i tried drawing it but haven't finished it. maybe one day i'll come back and post the sketch!</p><p>this chapter was a joy to write but it sure did put up a fight. i hope you enjoyed! also, as i progress, please do not hesitate to let me know if there's tags i should add just in case, or warnings? you know.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. CUZ A BROKEN BONE PARTY DON'T STOP!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Holy shit. I <em>won?</em>”</p><p>Alice danced up to my side with a small gift bag in her hand. She handed it to me and gave me swift peck on the cheek. Vampires and witches and ghosts and princesses were clapping for me, a life-size teddy bear, for winning Cutest Costume. As determined as I was to win, it still felt surreal. I hoped the artificial blush painted on my cheeks were covering my actual blush from all the attention.</p><p>When it had come time to select winners for each category, Alice had gathered all the willing participants to stand in this room that she made into a makeshift stage. The room was on the same floor as the main floor of the house, but was raised higher, so you had to step up and into it.</p><p>Alice called up the participants for the Cutest Costume, and Emmett grinned down at me. “That you, bear cub, or are you supposed to be scariest?”</p><p>“I’m a teddy bear, Emmett.” I pointed at my face. “Duh,” and walked up behind a few other contestants.</p><p>My competition ended up being surprisingly small. There were two cute witches (neither of them Angela, she wasn’t going for cute with her costume), a princess, and a kitty cat. I thought for sure the cat would win, as it was a Halloween classic. Who could resist the ears and tail and whiskers?</p><p>But the crowd cheered loudest for me, and Emmett’s booming cheer stood out loudest of them all, and it made me feel special and a little embarrassed.</p><p>I spent the rest of the night with my prize clutched in my paws, laughing and snacking, and not thinking too much about the boys that hesitated to approach me and Jessica and Angela just because Emmett was hovering over our little group. The only boys that willingly hung around and didn’t mind Emmett’s presence was Eric, who was dressed as Spiderman, and the boy whose name I finally learned was Ben.</p><p>I thought Ben was really nice. He had the same quiet and reserved personality as Angela, so he was easily likable. When he chatted with Angela, I couldn’t ignore the way his attention made her glow. Angela had to re-introduce him to me, which already made me feel bad enough, but then he kindly told her that he knew me already from Spanish class. </p><p>I blinked. No, that can’t be right. He must be confused. He laughed at the expression on my face.</p><p>“I sit behind the infamous Cullens. I don’t blame you at all for not seeing past them,” Ben reassured, sparing a quick, knowing glance to Emmett. I felt my face turning scarlet.</p><p>“Ben, oh gosh, I’m so sorry. That’s so rude of me. I’ve been here for two months so that’s no excuse. I feel terrible!”</p><p>He shrugged and his smile was understanding and reassuring. “Like I said, it’s no big deal.”</p><p>It was no wonder Angela had a soft spot for Ben. He was sweet. I made a mental vow to myself to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t hurt her. He looked like he wouldn’t hurt a fly, but still. Just in case.</p><p>When she wasn’t busy tending to the music or fixing up decorations or making sure couples wouldn’t venture off upstairs for <em>whatever</em> reason, Alice would pop up in and hang out with us, Jasper always in tow. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that a part of him was not entirely comfortable with the party and he was just sticking around for Alice’s sake. He’d probably be MIA like his other siblings if it weren’t for her. I only saw Edward once the whole night. I had caught a glimpse of coppery red hair at the top of the stairs. His face was contorted into a look of contempt, like he was too good to party with the rest of the teenagers of Forks, and for a moment I remembered Jessica’s dissatisfaction with Edward and understood a little of how he could have upset and offended her. His eyes flashed over to my frowning face and we made a brief moment of eye contact before he huffed and slipped back into the darkness of the upper floor.</p><p>Esme had made herself mostly scarce for the rest of the night, so I hadn’t seen her since our introduction, and Carlisle remained in his office, I assumed. I hadn’t seen Rosalie at all, and I didn’t want to wonder about her whereabouts aloud because I didn’t want to potentially give Emmett a reason to stray too far away from me. As selfish as it was, I liked his attention a bit too much.</p><p>Still, though, I was curious enough to ask Alice about the rest of her family when Emmett and Jasper broke off from the group to chat with each other. Alice shrugged.</p><p>“Edward and Rosalie didn’t really share my same enthusiasm for this party.”</p><p>Well, that seemed to match what little I knew about the both of them, so I didn’t press any further.</p><p>At another point in the night, the rest of my little group became a bit scarce. Emmett was the only one by my side.</p><p>“Did I mention how much I like your bear costume?” Emmett asked, appraising me as he leaned back casually against the wall.</p><p>“<em>Teddy</em> bear, Emmett,” I corrected, once again pointing at the paint on my cheeks. “Bears don’t blush.” Much like I was actually blushing underneath the face paint under the weight of his gaze.</p><p>“What made you pick a bear, anyway?” Oh, so he was just going to insist on ignoring the teddy bear part! Okay.</p><p>I rolled my eyes. “I took some inspiration from Forks. This seems like the kind of place bears would be. I could be wrong, though. Haven’t actually seen one.”</p><p>“No, you’re right. There’s bears here. Seen ‘em myself.”</p><p>I looked at Emmett, eyes widening in fascination. “Really? Was is scary?”</p><p>He snorted. “Please. Bears should be scared of me. Would you believe me if I told you I’ve wrestled bears before?”</p><p>“I definitely believe you’re dumb enough to try.”</p><p>He chuckled good-naturedly at that.</p><p>When it was finally time to leave, Angela and I had to pry Jess away from Mike. She was giggly and waved an enthusiastic goodbye in his direction, and it infuriated me how oblivious he seemed to her obvious crush on him. Angela and I shared a knowing glance, her frown matching my own, as we pulled Jessica towards the door.</p><p>Emmett got my attention again at the threshold. “Hey pipsqueak. What time should I pick you up tomorrow?”</p><p>I ignored the scandalized jaw-drop of Jessica when I answered, “is 11 okay? The earlier the better.”</p><p>“Got it.” He had that agonizingly charming smirk on his face as he gently tugged at the little bear ear on my hood. He turned and disappeared back into the house.</p><p>“What. Was. <em>That?” </em>Jessica whisper-shrieked as we walked to her car. “Do you have a date with <em>Emmett Cullen</em>?”</p><p>“It’s not a date.” I raised my damaged hand at her. “He’s taking me to the hospital to get an x-ray.”</p><p>We got into the car and Angela turned to face me from her spot in the passenger seat. “How do you feel? Does it hurt?”</p><p>I shrugged, and then grinned at her. “It’s fine. I won a contest so it’s worth it.” The three of us laughed. It <em>did</em> hurt, though. I was going to have to take another pain relief medicine when I got home.</p><p>“Ava, seriously,” Jessica piped in. “Have you been holding out on me? Emmett was all over you tonight-”</p><p>“Ew.”</p><p>“You know what I mean! He was basically flirting with you, and, and that little ear tug thing he did when we were leaving? What was that all about?”</p><p>“It’s nothing! He just felt bad about my hand and wanted to play the role of bodyguard for the night. Seriously, it’s nothing.”</p><p>Jessica made sure I could see her rolling her eyes through the rearview mirror. “You can lie to yourself all you want, but you can’t lie to me.”</p><p>“Angela, <em>please</em> help me out here,” I whined, looking for her usual saving grace. Instead of sweeping in as my knight in witchy armor, however, she hesitated.</p><p>“Ang?”</p><p>“Ava, I’m sorry, but Emmett really does seem into you.”</p><p>How can a conversation make you feel both exhausted and hyper at the same time? I felt like I was going to burst with the way my heart was beating.</p><p>“B-but what about Rosalie?”</p><p>Angela sighed, ignoring Jessica’s squeal. “Maybe –<em> hopefully – </em>they’re not actually dating? I didn’t see her all night. Otherwise, I can’t condone his flirtatious personality. It wouldn’t be fair to lead you on or to do that behind his girlfriend’s back.”</p><p>This made my suppressed guilt re-surface and swallow me whole. Sure, I wouldn’t be the one in the wrong in this scenario, if Emmett did in fact turn out to be just some shameless flirt taking advantage of some vulnerable girl while his girlfriend wasn’t around. I sighed morosely.</p><p>“I hope that’s not the case. I want him to be a good guy, even if…” even if he could never be mine. I cleared my throat. “He’s my friend and I don’t make friends with creeps or cheats.” I shrugged lamely in the back seat and quieted for the rest of the car ride.</p><p>Jessica dropped me off first, and I waved at them from the front door as she drove off. I yawned as I headed inside. All the excitement of the day finally caught up to and overwhelmed me. I struggled out of my costume and washed my face as best as I could with just my left hand. I took some medicine before settling in for the night. Sitting at the edge of my bed, I opened the little prize bag that I won. Inside was a plain white envelope. When I opened it, I was startled to find hundred dollar bills. My eyes bulged out of their sockets. I counted the money – one, two, three--  was there a thousand dollars in here? No, no way. Hah!</p><p>I shoved the money back into the envelope, shoved the envelope back into the bag, and then shoved the bag underneath my bed. I turned off the light and went under the covers, cackling the entire time.</p><p>One thousand dollars for winning a silly little costume contest. The Cullens just gave away thousands of dollars tonight, to several winners, without batting an eye. Rich people are weird. I laughed myself to sleep.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was the pain that woke me up the next morning.</p><p>I gasped awake, eyes fluttering open. My right hand was throbbing in agony. I tried flexing my fingers, but only the first two digits moved. My ring and pinky finger were uncomfortably stiff. I raised my hand up and remembered the splint. Groaning, I rolled to my side, and remembered everything that happened last night.</p><p>And then I remembered Emmett.</p><p>“Shit.” I got up and looked at the clock. I had about an hour and a half until Emmett came to get me. I hurriedly made my way to the bathroom to wash up, cradling my right hand to my stomach.</p><p>After brushing my teeth and drinking another pain relief pill, I went back to my room to look for something to wear. More than anything, I wanted to wear something that wasn’t constricting, that didn’t hug my arms, to reduce the chance of my splinted fingers getting caught in the sleeve and hurting unnecessarily. I remembered Emmett’s hoodie, large and roomy and comfortable, and briefly cursed myself for having given it back. The black crewneck sweatshirt I found at the bottom of the drawer would have to do.</p><p>I thought about texting Emmett to make sure he didn’t forget, but I didn’t have his number. Waiting and not knowing if he was even on his way made me nervous, and I found myself anxiously pacing about the kitchen. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was inconveniencing my aunt by being here. I showed up at her doorstep, and while it was previously discussed and planned, I was still an extra mouth to feed and I was using up the gas in her car when I used it for school – school! That wasn’t free! And now I was injured in a very stupid way, and going to a hospital for this injury, and I couldn’t possibly ask her to pay for it. I briefly remembered the cash prize I had won, and I didn’t want to waste it on a visit to the hospital (how much do x-rays cost, even?), I wanted to use that money for something useful like a car so I didn’t have to bother anyone else, but now?</p><p>Now?</p><p>I’m not sure how long I was like that, pacing back and forth and lost in tumultuous thoughts, but I was feeling lightheaded, chest tight, by the time the doorbell rang. My body moved mechanically to answer the door; it felt like I was watching from the outside. I barely registered the chilly draft that swept through the threshold and over my body.</p><p>“Ava? Ava, what’s wrong?”</p><p>Emmett stood at the door, concerned eyes searching my face. When I didn’t answer, he stood up straighter, somehow looking larger, and threatening. He looked over my head and into the rest of the house. His look of worry turned into stone, lips set into a rigid line, face unnervingly serious. I still hadn’t moved.</p><p>Emmett gently shoved past me through the threshold, and it was the brief contact of his hand on my shoulder that grounded me back to earth. I stepped aside and blinked at his back as he took in the entrance to my aunt’s home – the living room, the coat closet and stairs leading up to the left, the kitchen towards the back. He turned back to look at me, face full of questions.</p><p>“I’m. I’m so sorry,” I stammered out, face turning hot. My mouth was dry and my hands were tingling. I took in a steadying breath, and then tried to laugh it off as I explained, “I think I just had a minor freak out. No biggie! Okay, let’s go.”</p><p>I turned to head out the door but the cold rain made me yelp and jump back into the house.</p><p>“Forgetting something, pipsqueak?”</p><p>I glanced down at my sweatshirt, which was comfortable enough in dry conditions but would not properly protect me from the elements. I shuffled past Emmett to grab my jacket from where I had thrown it carelessly on the couch last night. I put it on quickly, hissing at the pain that ignited in my hand from the abrupt movement.</p><p>Emmett stepped closer to stand by my side, voice gentle, hands hovering by my right arm. “Hey, careful. D’you still need me to babysit you?” He was teasing and smiling and this, coupled with all the casual ways he’s touched me this weekend, made my heart stutter in my chest. All this teasing and joking was easy in school. But we weren’t in school, we were alone in my aunt’s living room and I felt open and vulnerable, my quick retorts abandoning me. The way Emmett’s eyes lingered on my blushing cheeks made me feel like I was going to combust.</p><p>I shook my head to dispel the awkward tension that I’m sure I created my damn hopeless self, and Emmett let his hands drop and looked pointedly towards the open door, looking antsy to leave. I grabbed my bag and mumbled an apology as we headed out, locking the door behind me. I followed Emmett to a big red jeep that was parked out front but then halted to a stop by the passenger door. He looked down at me. “What’s wrong now?”</p><p>I looked up at him, then down to my little corgi legs, then at the car door that was way too high, then back down at my legs.</p><p>“Did you happen to bring a ladder?”</p><p>Emmett barked a quick laugh before opening the passenger door for me. “I guess I should’ve borrowed Edward’s Volvo. Too late now! Get in.” He grinned at me, challenging.</p><p>I eyed the running board, calculating. I raised my left leg experimentally, testing, and, yep, sure enough, my knee would have to go higher than my waist if I put my foot on the running board. I was about to glare at Emmett when he sighed, and suddenly two strong hands were on my hips and I was lifted bodily into the seat in one swift motion. The unexpected contact and movement made me gasp, and I stared up at Emmett, wide-eyed. His forearm rested against the top frame of the jeep as he smiled cheekily at me.</p><p>My harried brain could barely process that Emmett lifted me up like I weighed nothing to him. Sure, he was very obviously big and strong, but I wasn’t exactly light enough to be picked up without a little bit of a struggle. Was I short? Yes, undoubtedly so. But was I light? No, not even a little.  </p><p>“A little warning, next time, maybe?”</p><p>He just shrugged in response. “Maybe.”</p><p>I sighed and shook my head, looking for the seat belt – seat belts? What kind of contraption… this seat was built like the inside of a spaceship! My eyes were frustrated and pleading when I looked at Emmett again. “How do the seat belts work in this death trap?”</p><p>“Don’t be so dramatic.” He leaned over me as he gathered the straps together to buckle me in. I tried to ignore the way his hands just-barely grazed against me as he worked on the harness, quick and efficient, but ignoring his hands meant focusing on how devastatingly close his face was to mine. His eyelashes were thick and dark and pretty, and his curls looked so <em>soft.</em> When he finally leaned away and closed the door, I let out a shaky breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.</p><p>The landscape was a greengray blur as we drove to the hospital. I gripped the harness against my chest with my good hand as Emmett barreled down the roads at speeds I’m positive were illegal and very unsafe. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was in a rush to get rid of me. I distantly remembered that jeeps weren’t safe vehicles to begin with, and on slick roads, I could only ascertain that Emmett was for sure trying to kill us both.</p><p>When we pulled into the hospital parking lot, I remembered again that I had no way to pay for this visit. Emmett wordlessly leaned over me to undo the contraption that was keeping me strapped to my seat. Instinctively, I stopped his hands with my left one and looked pleadingly into his wondering eyes. He drew his hands back quickly when he saw the look on my face, his back suddenly pressed against the driver side door in the blink of an eye.</p><p>“I’m not gonna hurt you,” he said.</p><p>I blinked at the serious expression on his face. “What? I never said you were.”</p><p>“Then why are you scared?”</p><p>I glanced through the windshield towards the hospital building. “This was a bad idea.”</p><p>Emmett’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “You’re just getting an x-ray.”</p><p>“No, just- I don’t… I don’t know how I’m gonna pay for this visit.” Seriously, I wondered again, how much do x-rays cost?</p><p>“Is <em>that</em> what you’re worried about?” He laughed, incredulous. “Seriously? Don’t worry about that.”</p><p>“How can I not worry about that?” I couldn’t help raising my voice. He didn’t think he and his dad would cover for this, did he?</p><p>“Easy.” He leaned in again to undo the harness.</p><p>“Emmett, you can’t be serious. You guys have done enough for me, seriously, I can’t just walk in there and let your dad see me for free.” Also there’s no way that was legal, was it? All my hospital visits had been with an adult, and I never paid much attention to the front-desk stuff.</p><p>“I don’t see what the big deal is. ‘Sides, this is my fault.”</p><p>“This isn’t your-”</p><p>He continued muttering, cutting me off. “If Alice had just warned me, if she could’ve seen…”</p><p>Alice? “What are you talking about? No one could’ve seen this coming, it was an accident! It was- it was spontaneous, an impulse! <em>I</em> didn’t know I was gonna react like that, just like you didn’t know you were gonna scare me!”</p><p>“Impulse.” He paused, as if remembering something. “Right.” He cut the engine to the car and got out. He opened the passenger door and waited for me to climb out. When I didn’t immediately jump out of my seat, he gently scooped me up and out and placed me on my feet. An involuntary squeal escaped my mouth at the action, and it lightened the mood somewhat.</p><p>“Seriously, how much do you bench?”</p><p>“Uh, how much do you weigh?” he retorted, smirking.</p><p>I snorted. “Let’s just say doctors have been telling me I’m overweight for my height for most of my life.”</p><p>He chuckled and turned to walk towards the hospital doors. “Stay behind me, I’m gonna sneak you in.”</p><p>That was completely ridiculous but I obediently did as I was told and hid behind his massive body as we walked through the automatic sliding doors. My left hand clutched at the fabric of his sweater so that I could keep in line with his movements. He greeted the receptionist that was sitting at the counter by name, keeping his entire back facing away from her the entire time, maneuvering in such a way as to keep me completely hidden from her sight as he walked past the front desk, and I had to carefully walk backwards. I had to stop myself from laughing at his exaggerated movements and polite small talk. The absurdity of the situation reminded me why I liked him so much. No, no, why I liked <em>spending time</em> with him so much, in school.</p><p>Once in the halls and completely out of sight of the waiting area, Emmett guided me to walk in front of him, keeping a hand at the small of my back as he steered me around corners. We finally stopped at a door that Emmett knocked on twice before opening without waiting for a response. I walked in ahead of him and was greeted by Carlisle, who rose from where he sat at his desk.</p><p>“Ava, hello.” He nodded at Emmett behind me. I glanced back at him, and he gave me a wink and a smile before shutting the door to the office, leaving me alone with Dr. Cullen.</p><p>“How do you feel today, Ava?”</p><p>“Embarrassed,” I answered, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.</p><p>He smiled patiently. “I was wondering more so about your hand.”</p><p>“Oh. Right.” I cleared my throat, feeling my right pointer finger twitch. “It hurt a lot this morning. I took medicine, though, so it’s not so bad right now.”</p><p>He nodded. “That’s normal. It’s going to hurt for a little while longer.” He came around the desk to assess the bandage that was still wrapped around my hand from last night. The edges were starting to fray. His cool touch felt pleasant and welcoming against the dull ache. He carefully let go of my hand and headed to the door. “Let’s get that x-ray done.”</p><p>I followed him out the door and my shoulders sagged with relief when I saw Emmett leaning against the wall opposite Carlisle’s office door. I didn’t realize how much I wanted him near throughout this whole ordeal. I wasn’t used to doing these kinds of things alone, and his familiar presence was calming, if nothing else.</p><p>Carlisle settled me into a room where the x-ray was going to be completed. I nodded as he explained the process to me, not really paying attention. The x-ray was taken at several different angles, and I held perfectly still, trying to focus on little things around the room.</p><p>Carlisle disappeared to get the pictures, Emmett meeting him in the hallway as they exchanged quiet words. I couldn’t hear any of what was being said as they walked off, and I was all alone in this too-bright room. I worried at the skin of my bottom lip, getting anxious again. I felt like such a burden on Emmett and his family. I could reassure him that this was an accident but that didn’t mean it made me feel any better about the fact that I was taking up time out of Emmett’s Sunday, and Dr. Cullen was seeing me instead of a real patient with an actual appointment.</p><p>I jumped up in my seat when Carlisle came back in to show me the x-rays. He was alone when he returned, no Emmett. My heart plummeted, and the look on my face must’ve indicated as such. “I told Emmett to wait in the waiting area. He hasn’t left.”</p><p>Embarrassed at wearing my emotions on my sleeves, I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, but he ignored it and proceeded to show me the x-ray. He pointed out the break – not that he needed to, it was pretty clear where it was that I was broken. He also pointed out a previous fracture on my index finger, and I smiled sheepishly at him and explained.</p><p>“Freshman year, my first broken bone. A basketball landed right on the tip of my finger during gym. So I’m familiar with the healing process, at least.”</p><p>Carlisle chuckled. “Well, that’s good.” He started working on re-bandaging my fingers now that he knew exactly where the break was. “If properly taken care of, the bone will be completely healed in about three to six weeks. Come see me again in three weeks so we can take another look at it, see how it’s healing.”</p><p>I frowned and opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off.</p><p>“Please, Ava, don’t worry about the expense. It’s taken care of.”</p><p>His earnestness did not make me feel any less bad about it. “I can’t help but feel like I’m taking advantage of you, doc.”</p><p>“You’re a dear friend to my children. I’m more than happy to help.” His smile was genuine and reassuring and angelic. Titi Vilma was right, he’s easy on the eyes, and it wasn’t just because of his movie-star good looks. There was a compassion that radiated off him, making his very presence warm despite the cool touch of his hands.</p><p>Carlisle led me back out to the waiting area where Emmett sat, left leg bouncing, looking much too big for the pastel green chair. When he spotted us, spotted me, he stood up immediately and smiled so wide it made my heart squeeze.</p><p>What did I do to deserve this kindness?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ngl the more i write the more worried i am that some characters are ooc? which could def happen, i feel like my own interpretations of them is bleeding through, especially since i don't agree with most of SMeyer's decisions about her own characters lol. pls lmk, i'll add a tag about characters being ooc to warn people.</p><p>anyways, ty for reading! i keep going back to edit previous chapters. for example, in chapter 6, i mentioned something about TMZ cuz i was so confident that TMZ existed throughout since the early 2000s, but it didn't air until 2005??? (a year after the events of this story so far). time is fake &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Diner</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Emmett hefted me up into his jeep, I was prepared this time. There was no sound of surprise that escaped my mouth. Instead, I absolutely thrilled at the feeling of his hands on my hips, even though it lasted for just a second. Then, with the same ease, he deftly fastened the harness. Unlike before, though, I breathed in his scent. My eyes fluttered shut as the woodsy scent of him overwhelmed my senses. Briefly, I imagined my head burrowed into his neck and breathing him in, lips lightly pressed against his skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sudden slamming of the car door quelled the thoughts and my eyes snapped open. I watched with embarrassment as Emmett walked stiffly and quickly around the front of the car to get to the driver’s side. I quickly straightened up my spine – somehow, without realizing, I had leaned forward in my seat, right in the space Emmett was inhabiting just seconds before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>By the time he started the car and started backing out of the parking space, my face felt like it was on fire. I couldn’t even turn my head to look at him. I had been so lost in my thoughts, lost in his aroma, that I wasn’t even conscious of my movements. More than anything, though, I was worried about whatever he may have seen on my face. Did my face reflect the yearning? Oh this was mortifying; I did not want to suffer the rest of the car ride like this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, I didn’t mean to-” I had opened my mouth to start explaining myself, to kill this terrible silence and try to amend our relationship so that we could go back to our usual banter. But when I turned to look at Emmett, he was sitting stiff as a board in his seat, hands gripping the steering wheel with unnerving force. He was so… </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Unmoving. As if he wasn’t even breathing. In fact, he seemed to be trying to lean as far away from my side of the jeep as he possibly could.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As if my involuntary action before wasn’t humiliating enough, this was downright offensive. I thought back to other times, similar moments, where I had gotten close to Emmett’s face and he flinched away from me. Upset and feeling ridiculed, tears pricked at my vision. “Do I smell bad or something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” came his quick response. Too quick to be comforting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I snorted in disbelief and leaned as far away from him as I could in my seat in an attempt to ease his discomfort. I almost missed the next thing he muttered under his breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This’d be easier if you did, though.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I stilled in my seat and blinked at him. “What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t smell bad,” he reassured, keeping his eyes on the road.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t have to lie, you know,” I mumbled, resting my forehead on the window. “I’m a big girl, I can take it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not lying. You smell good, okay? Really Good. Too good.” Did he just growl? “Are you hungry? Do you wanna stop for lunch, or something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The abrupt change in conversation practically gave me whiplash. “Huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Being alone with you right now isn’t a good idea.” His voice was low and gravelly and it made my heart pick up a couple of paces.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just then, his phone vibrated in his jean pocket and he pulled it out in one fluid motion. He drove right past my street, never slowing down. I opened my mouth to complain but he was already answering the phone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know.” He glanced at me quickly. “We’re stopping at the diner.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were a few long seconds of silence before he finally breathed out a sigh, his face relaxing with a bit of relief. “Great. Later.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He snapped the phone shut. I tried deciphering the quick and cryptic phone call, trying to understand why he looked much less tense than he did a moment ago.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s the best idea.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But won’t it look inappropriate? Just the two of us?” I know that two friends can get lunch together without it being a date, but this was a small town, and people talk, and Emmett Cullen stands out. They’d notice that he was out alone with just a girl that was very obviously not part of his family. Word would get out and travel and reach Rosalie by the time we walked out of that diner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ava Nieves, are you worried people are gonna think we’re on a date?” He smiled then, eyebrows waggling suggestively.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>you? </span>
  </em>
  <span>What would Rosalie think!?” I retorted, exasperated.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why does it matter what Rose thinks?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um. Maybe because she’s your </span>
  <em>
    <span>girlfriend</span>
  </em>
  <span>!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I stared at him accusingly and he stared back, eyes widening in realization. “Is </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> what you’ve been worrying about this whole time?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eyes on the road, please! And yes! At least one of us should!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He snorted as he fixed his eyes on the road again, amused grin plastered on his face. Was it really so silly of me to take Rosalie’s feelings into consideration here? Did he not realize that she could very easily step on me? Sure, he doesn’t have to know how much I’d probably enjoy having a gorgeous girl step on me, but still! I was not trying to incur the wrath of a pretty blonde for the rest of the school year.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Rose isn’t my girlfriend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Huh? “Wait. Waitwaitwait. Does. Does </span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span> know that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He laughed. “Oh, believe me. She’s very aware.” His tone made it sound like she’s the one that didn’t want to be with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A wave of giddy relief washed over me, and I erupted into a fit of giggles, feeling light and airy. I spent this entire time fretting over my crush’s girlfriend when there was never even a girlfriend to fret over! I could spend time with Emmett free of guilt! We can be friends and it won’t matter what Jess and everyone else thinks, it won’t matter what Rosalie thinks, because Emmett is single! Oh, this was liberating!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The passenger door was open and Emmett hovered over me, the look on his face making me feel like some sort of crazed creature. Had I been laughing too long? Oh, wait, the car stopped—the jeep is parked right outside the diner, bustling with patrons and children in costumes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>My laughter finally quieted as Emmett unfastened me from my seat and lifted me out of the car. “Ready to eat,” he asked, “or are you still worried about what people might think if they see us together?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I grinned and shook my head at him as we made our way into The Lodge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was lunchtime on a Sunday in the only diner in Forks, so it was crowded, but the wait time wasn't so bad. Emmett finally seemed fully relaxed in the crowded environment, however, and I remembered his comment about how being alone with me wasn’t a good idea. He looked… he looked hungry when he said it, and now that I know he’s not spoken for, the comment combined with his expression made something within me stir.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why don’t you want to be alone with me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He paused before answering, “I never said I didn’t want to. Just that it’d be a bad idea.” He kept his voice light and teasing, just like always, but he stared into my eyes as if trying to warn me of something. It only confused me. I couldn’t get a grasp on what he was trying to tell me. I exhaled an awkward laugh and ripped my gaze away from his, regretting the question.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I’ve only been to The Lodge once with Titi Vilma. We had come here for dinner one night when neither of us were much in the mood too cook after finishing our leftovers. Small as Forks is, my aunt was still recognized by the server, Cora, despite how rarely she frequented the diner. That same server recognized me now, and the surprise on her face at seeing me with a Cullen was quickly replaced by professional friendliness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ava, sweetheart, how are you?” Cora asked as she led me and Emmett to our table. I didn’t miss the quick glance she shot at my splint. I smiled at her, reassuring.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine, miss, thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, please, call me Cora! None of this ‘miss’ stuff.” Cora was a middle-aged woman that radiated a maternal warmth. So when those honest, kind eyes of hers glanced uncertainly at Emmett seated across from me, it made me curious. “I’ll give you two a moment to order.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she walked away, I asked Emmett what all that was about, but he just shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Does she know you?” I pushed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not personally. I’ve never actually been here before.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” I thought about his family’s huge house, and the thousand dollar cash prize they gave away like candy to several Forks High students last night (with me being one of them) and figured, sure, it makes sense that he’s never eaten at the dingy little diner in Forks. I shrugged off the odd look Cora gave him as her recognizing a Cullen and wondering just what the hell was he doing at a place like this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And, honestly, what </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> the Cullens doing in a place like this?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I’m a firm believer that minding your own business is key to survival, so I don’t bother asking. Instead, since I had to say </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> while Emmett sat casually across the table, looking at me amidst the diner bustle. I asked who was that that called.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alice. She wanted to check in on you, make sure you were alright.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>My chest filled with warmth at Alice’s thoughtfulness. She wanted to check up on me? And then my touched smile turned into one of confusion. “Wait, but why didn’t she just call me then?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A grin spread slowly across his face as he replied, “she just needed to make sure I didn’t eat you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emmett always made me feel small, for very obvious reasons. For one, he stood well over a foot taller than me. Then other times, like when he enveloped me in his sweater, or last night when his hands were placed delicately and protectively on my waist and I felt like a little glass doll. But at that moment, when he said those words while leaning his weight against his forearms on the table, intensity of his eyes once again combating the teasing tone of his voice, I felt like prey cornered by its predator.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Someone cleared their throat, snapping me out of it. I looked up at Cora, who was ready to take our order.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry to interrupt. Are you two ready to order?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I looked at Emmett but he just stared back expectantly, patiently waiting for me to order first. My face heated up with embarrassment when I realized I didn’t even look at the menu. I hurriedly ordered coffee and waffles and then sat back in my seat while Emmett ordered the same thing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once Cora walked away again, I fidgeted with the piece of straw paper from the glass of water she had brought to our table. As much as I enjoyed being silly and boisterous in gym with Emmett, being alone with him like this was new and I wasn’t sure how to navigate it. I didn’t have to think when we were in school, but now, his attention was completely focused on me and I wasn’t sure what to talk about. Should I thank him again? Shit, did I ever thank him to begin with? I should get on that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, I’m not sure if I thanked you yet, but.. thank you. You didn’t have to do all this. For me. And that time you lent me your sweater- which, by the way, I think you saved me from getting hit by a car that day and I never thanked you for that?- and all those times you stopped a ball from pelting me in the face in gym, and just.. I dunno, you’ve been so nice to me when you don’t have to be. So. Thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re welcome! But what’s with the face? Where’s fun Ava?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fun Ava is currently overwhelmed by your kindness. And not just you, but your dad and Alice, too.” I dragged my glass of water closer to me and muttered against the side of the straw, “I don’t know how I could possibly repay you and your family.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We both leaned back against our seats when Cora came to place piping hot mugs of coffee in front of us. She assured us our meals would be out in a few moments, and, once gone away again, Emmett and I leaned forward towards each other again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t sweat it,” he said, continuing our conversation. “’Sides, isn’t this what friends do?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean, I guess! I still feel bad about it. I hate bothering people.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re not bothering me. To prove it, let me be your ride to and from school from now on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“F-from now on!?” I sputtered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“At least until you’re all healed up.” We both glanced at my right hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I hummed in consideration while I ripped open two packets of sugar into my coffee and poured in some creamer. Emmett mirrored my movements, pouring the same amount of sugar and creamer into his own mug. We both stirred the contents of our mugs at the same time, and I had to stop myself from laughing at how comically large his hands seemed compared to the little ceramic diner mug.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Our food was brought to the table and I still didn’t have a confirmation for him. Instead, I sighed and drizzled what could only be classified as ‘too much’ syrup over my own waffle. “Isn’t that just another favor I’d owe you for?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“C’mon, pipsqueak, it hurts my feelings that you think I’d want something in return. What do you take me for?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry!” I sputtered unattractively around a mouthful of waffle. I swallowed my bite quickly before adding matter-of-factly, “men typically just want something in return.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I expected Emmett to look offended but instead he just said, “well, I wouldn’t object if you wanted to repay me with a kiss.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I choked on my next bite, eyes bulging out of my skull, while he just cackled mercilessly at my reaction. Oh, I could kill him!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Relax, I’m kidding! But seriously, let me do this for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We stared each other down, gazes stubborn. I did not want to budge even though there was a large part of me that very much wanted Emmett Cullen to drive me around under different circumstances, and he was not offering this out of pity. But then, oh, then! He wasn’t done trying to convince me. He upped the charm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He leaned even closer and tilted his head to the side. He smirked in that boyish way of his, but instead of teasing, it was playfully pleading, and his eyes bore into mine imploringly. “Please let me make it up to you?” he asked again, voice smoldering and successfully scrubbing my mind of any coherent thought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I nodded blankly in consent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Satisfied, Emmett leaned back into his chair with a triumphant grin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know what, this is fine,” I said, sawing into my waffle as best as I could without jostling my right hand too much. “At least now I’m only bothering one person for a ride for the next few weeks instead of bothering four.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s with you and ‘bothering’? If someone’s offering to help, you’re not bothering them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I winced, either from the sting his words caused me or the pain in my hand. Emmett wordlessly dragged my plate to his side of the table and started cutting my waffle into pieces. When he pushed it back towards me, tears sprung into my vision unexpectedly and I quickly looked down so he wouldn’t see, muttering a thank you.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was kind of raised not to ask for help,” I said carefully around a bite, still avoiding eye contact. “Y’know, be independent, and all that. Anytime I asked my… anytime I asked for help, I’d either be met with general annoyance and waved away, or belittled for needing help in the first place, or..” I shrugged. “whatever. I dunno.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I cleared my throat before continuing, looking anywhere but Emmett’s face as I twirled my fork in a flourish. “So! People here have been very nice to me; generous, even! And it’s hard to get used to, and I don’t want to push my luck or have you- er, have everyone get sick of me. That’s all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Some seconds passed where all that could be heard was the scraping of utensils on ceramic and the relative buzz of the diner before Emmett finally got me to look him in the eye. “Hey. I’m sorry you think like that, but if there’s anything Carlisle and Esme taught me is that it’s okay to ask for help. You’re not a burden or anything like that. And I don’t know if you noticed, but people like you, pipsqueak. I like you. You’re nice and fun to be around. You deserve people being good to you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The look on his face as he spoke was so… uncharacteristically earnest, and sort of beautiful and wonderful and brutally kind. The tears in my eyes finally welled up until they spilled unbidden. I shoveled the rest of my waffle pieces into my mouth as though the syrupy sweetness of it could absorb my tears. He asked why I was crying but I just shook my head, unable to speak with my mouth full. When my plate was finally clear, he pushed it out of the way and replaced it with his own plate, waffle cut in pieces, and I ate some of it without giving it a second thought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finally, when it felt like I would burst at the seams, I pushed his plate away. As if on cue, Cora came by to ask if we’d like anything else. Emmett quirked a questioning eyebrow and I shook my head no. When she left us with the check, Emmett dragged it to his side of the table. He rummaged through the pocket of his jeans and took out some cash, barely sparing another glance at the check.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All the while, I sipped at the rest of my coffee. I tried not to feel mortified at the fact that I just cried in front of my crush in public, when it dawned at me that Emmett barely touched his food, if it all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey… why didn’t you eat?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shrugged. “Can’t eat this stuff.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can’t?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He pat his stomach but only after a brief second of hesitation. “Gotta watch my figure.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I eyed his muscles which were still noticeable through his shirt sleeves. “You know they have eggs here, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Protein.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Protein good… for muscles. Seriously, dude?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eggs… right, I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” He smiled at some secret joke, and since I wasn’t one to pry, I didn’t say anything further.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead, when he pushed his own coffee mug towards me, I took it and downed the rest of its contents without saying a word. If he was going to pay for two meals, I’d at least make sure nothing went to waste.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When we left The Lodge, Emmett practically had to carry me. The food coma was kicking in so I didn’t have time to feel bad about leaning all my weight on him. Nor did I have the awareness to feel embarrassed that he had to fasten me into the passenger seat of his jeep like I was a helpless toddler in a car seat for the third time today. Eyes droopy and head lolling, I called out to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Emmett?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, pipsqueak?” a smile could be heard in his tone, and I sighed contentedly as I began dozing off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I like you, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They sat parked in front of Ava’s home, the jeep’s engine idling. Emmett was fascinated at how quickly Ava had passed out in the five minutes it had taken to get there from the diner. He couldn’t remember if that was something normal for humans, or if it was just specifically an Ava thing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wanted to wake her so that she could get inside and sleep comfortably in her own bed (and even briefly considered carrying her sleeping body to the house himself before a text from Alice that read “don’t u dare” stopped him from doing so), but he needed to sit in the driver seat for a couple of more minutes running her tiny, listless confession over and over again in his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I like you, too.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Those were the words that left Ava’s sleepy, smiling lips before she conked out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This was one of those occasions where Emmett wished he had Edward’s gift for mindreading. Then he’d be able to discern what, exactly, she meant by that. Did she like him as a friend? Did she like him, like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> like him, in the way he realized he had grown to like her these past couple of months?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emmett had had his way with girls in his human life. The memories are foggy and distant, but he knows he made girls giggles and blush, he knows he kissed plenty of ‘em. He knows that he knew when they were interested (and they were almost always interested).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Emmett hadn’t been with anyone but Rosalie since he was turned, and he wasn’t sure he knew how to read women anymore, specifically human women. Sure, he was confident, and he’d never let it show if he wasn’t, but he’s been prowling the earth long enough now to see that the things girls liked actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>changes</span>
  </em>
  <span> with the generations and it was almost baffling. Also, it didn’t always match what was shown on T.V. Sometimes he’d test out human girl’s reactions to him by briefly flirting with them – usually by tossing them a wink and revealing his dimples with a smirk while passing them by – and that worked for the most part. They’d get all flustered and wide-eyed and start tripping over their own feet. The braver ones would smile back and wave charmingly at him. Some of them would just roll their eyes and look away, but he never missed the sound of their heart-rate picking up a bit at the attention regardless.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ava did those things too, sure – he hears when her heart stutters, he notices the reddening of her cheeks when she looks at him sometimes, he’s overheard Jessica Stanley try to get Ava to confess to liking him, but so far she’s only admitted to liking what she </span>
  <em>
    <span>sees</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and that’s already a given; if they’re not intimidated by his presence, then they’re attracted to his physical appearance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He couldn’t mull this over right now, though. He had to get Ava inside so she’d be comfortable and </span>
  <em>
    <span>he’d</span>
  </em>
  <span> be comfortable, ease the dry parch of his throat that her scent elicited. He gently shook her shoulder to wake her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey sleeping beauty, you’re home. Let’s get you inside.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ava’s eyes fluttered blearily open before she jolted up in her seat. She whipped her head around to look at him, wide eyed, as a blush furiously crept into her cheeks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did I fall </span>
  <em>
    <span>asleep</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure did, pipsqueak.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He watched as she groaned and hid her face behind her hands, and he laughed, bewildered. “What’s the problem? Don’t you always fall asleep? Isn’t that your thing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> and this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>embarrassing,</span>
  </em>
  <span> especially with how short the drive is. Ugh, I feel so vulnerable.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have no idea,” he muttered under his breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He just grinned in response as he cut the engine and slid out of his seat to walk around to her side of the jeep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t matter if Ava </span>
  <em>
    <span>liked</span>
  </em>
  <span> him liked him, he decided as he eased her down from the passenger seat and watched her shuffle to the front door. Because </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> liked </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and it was dangerous and thrilling and he was going to have to tell her soon, he realized.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was only fair that she knew the risk of being alone with him.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i super enjoyed writing this chapter, even tho emmett feels a bit OOC? maybe? i don't even care, vulnerability is fun to write.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Morning, pipsqeak.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emmett was at my door the next morning, smiling down at me and making me feel absolutely silly for fretting all morning over whether or not he’d remember to show up. Of course he’d remember. I knew he would, yet worried anyway that he’d wake up today and realize that I was not worth his time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he was here, holding an umbrella over my head while I made sure the front door was locked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I haven’t seen you with an umbrella at school,” I questioned as we walked through the downpour to his jeep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Funny, I could say the same about you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A sheepish grin spread across my face as I remembered my failed promise to myself to get my own umbrella. Not that it would’ve done me much good. I was never much for remembering little things like that to begin with. I wasn’t about to admit that, though, and make it seem like I was incapable of taking care of myself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s just so much to carry already, y’know? What with the school books, and the weight of the bags under my eyes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He snorted as he helped me into the passenger seat. “Right. Is that why you’re always under-dressed for the weather?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The passenger door was slammed shut as I thought back to the day I forgot my jacket, the day he lent me his sweater. When Emmett was seated in the driver’s seat, I huffed out defensively, “that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>one </span>
  </em>
  <span>time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ava, this town is cold and wet and all you ever wear is a light jacket.” He glanced pointedly down at my body for emphasis, which was currently donned in, well, a light jacket, buttons still undone in my haste to leave. “Which you don’t even keep buttoned half the time. Like now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Emmett, look at how much I was struggling holding just a coffee, and, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>keys</span>
  </em>
  <span> for crying out loud. You think I can hold an umbrella? A heavy coat?” I scoffed dramatically. “Please, Emmett, be realistic.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emmett looked thoroughly amused as he pulled into the busier streets, and I could not believe I had the energy to bicker so early in the morning. I had actually woken up before my alarm today, too nervous and jittery knowing that Emmett would be my ride for at least the next three weeks. It was early enough that I could shower and be meticulous about the way my hair framed my face, put in some semblance of effort into my appearance since the first day of school. I poured myself a mug of coffee and, as an afterthought, poured the rest of the pot into a travel mug to-go, thinking of Emmett.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“By the way,” I began, offering the coffee to Emmett as he drove, “I made you some coffee. As thanks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He glanced down at it briefly, apologetic smile looking almost like a grimace. “Thanks, but I’m not really a coffee guy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The memory of Emmett giving me his cup of coffee at the diner the day before suddenly flashed in my mind, and I pulled the mug back to me as embarrassment colored my cheeks for forgetting. “Oh, right, I’m sorry… I should’ve realized.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing to apologize for,” he muttered, seeming distant. There was a look in his eyes, focused on the rainy roads ahead, that gave me the feeling there was something more he wanted to say. But his lips were sealed shut, jaw tense, grip on the steering a wheel uncharacteristically rigid. The silence made the small space between us fill up awkwardly, and I just sighed, deciding to just keep the coffee for myself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just as I brought the travel mug to my lip to take a sip, the car ran over a slight bump, presumably a pothole, jostling me enough that the hot liquid missed my mouth entirely and spilled all over my front. I gasped in surprise, some of the coffee having splashed into the open collar of my jacket and making contact with skin, hot and unpleasantly wet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, crap,” Emmett exclaimed, effectively cutting the air of awkward silence he had created. “You alright?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I mean, instead of being cold and wet, I’m hot and wet,” I sarcastically assured, voice sounding high-pitched and warbly in my ears. I let out a shaky laugh, looking for something to pat myself dry with. “Do you have any napkins in here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emmett’s face kept glancing at me and my flailing hands. “No, we don’t eat food.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I looked at him, eyebrows pulling together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“In the- in the car. We don’t eat food in here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re the bane of my existence,” I grumbled, resorting to just using my coat to clean up the coffee on my chest. The rest of it that had leaked into my shirt was already absorbed into the fabric.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emmett chuckled humorlessly beside me. “You don’t know the half of it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We finally pulled into the lot and slid into a space right beside the familiar silver Volvo. Before he could get out to help me, I whined about how I was going to smell like coffee all day, to which he responded with a snort, and said, “what’s it matter? You always smell like coffee.” I scoffed as he exited the car, and then stilled in my seat. Always? How could he know what I ‘always’ smell like? Was my coffee breath that strong?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>By the time he got to my side to help me down and out of the jeep, my jaw was clenched stubbornly shut and I was trying my best to shrink into myself, as if I could somehow mask the scent of coffee if I just folded my body into itself. Emmett stood at the passenger door, a mixture of exasperation and amusement apparent on his face. “Pipsqueak, you gotta move your hands so I can get to the straps and let you out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I scowled, whipping my face away from Emmett as I begrudgingly uncrossed my arms. He began unclasping the stupid harness that had me strapped into my seat like an overgrown toddler. “What is with you today?” he asked, voice dripping with bewildered amusement.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing,” I responded through my teeth. “Just that I apparently reek to you all the time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What!?” Emmett laughed out the word as I clambered unsteadily out of the jeep. He has the umbrella open in the same instant my boots hit the wet pavement. “We’re doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> again? Where is this coming from?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You just complained about my apparent coffee stench.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Complain? When did I-” I glanced up at him as we walked and noticed the laughter dancing in his eyes, as if he wasn’t sure whether or not I was joking. “Why’re you being so sensitive all of a sudden?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I huffed and picked up my speed, which he easily kept up with as he held the umbrella over both our heads. We bickered like that the whole way to the Language building, and I was so caught up in our quarrel that I hardly noticed the double-takes people were giving us at having seen me arrive at school with a Cullen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We stopped walking once we were in front of the open door to my English class. Emmett held out the umbrella to me, closed since we entered the building. “Here, take this to keep you dry between your classes. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> know how to open an umbrella, right?” His voice was teasing, has been teasing this entire time, and as incredulous as he’s looked, he would not stop grinning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know how to use an umbrella,” I sneered, rolling my eyes. “It just so happens that I’m already holding one thing today, so I’m at capacity.” I shook the travel mug in my left hand for emphasis, ignoring the way the contents sloshed around and threatened to spill again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that what this is all about? Give me that.” Emmett swiftly took the travel mug from my hand before I could protest, replacing it with the umbrella. “You’ve been a grump ever since I rejected your coffee.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not true!” Except, it kind of was, wasn’t it? “I’m just.. I’m just not a morning person.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bull,” he retorted. “Even if that’s true, you always get to school smiling when you’re with Weber or Stanley or whoever. You’ve been a real pain in the ass with me, though.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I opened my mouth to protest, except he was right. Even if I was still too tired for conversation with my friends this early this morning, I was at least polite, I never snapped at them and I was never this cranky. Which, admittedly, I was acting out like a cranky child, and it had started as a joke but somewhere down the line it became very real.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emmett stood there like he had just won an argument, one eyebrow raised as if to challenge me to deny what he just said. Instead, I just meekly reached out for the travel mug. “Give it back,” I mumbled. “You don’t even drink coffee.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He pulled the mug back out of my reach – which wasn’t hard to do given our extreme height difference – and then took one big swig. His head was thrown back, exposing the smooth expanse of his jugular, and I watched his adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. My own lips parted and I felt my mind go blank temporarily at the sight – where was I? where were we? Why was there a dull aching feeling in my right hand—</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Done with his sip, Emmett shook his head and exhaled, the scent of coffee mixed with his usual scent fanning over my face and snapping me out of my reverie.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is the best coffee I’ve ever had.” His smile, now strained as if in discomfort, made it hard for me to believe him. I almost laughed. But then he made eye contact with me, holding my gaze with his own, and when he said, “thank you” with all the sincerity in the world, I believed him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I tore my gaze away from his, suddenly overwhelmed with the floodgate of feelings that had erupted in my chest. A shaky laugh escaped my lips in a huff as I waved a dismissive hand at him. “Yeah, yeah.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“See you later, pipsqueak.” I refused to look back up at him until he turned around to leave. I watched his retreating figure as the rest of the student body and some faculty parted for him like the red sea.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When I plopped into my seat in class, Jessica got my attention, her big blue eyes brimming with curiosity. “Are you two, like, married now?” she joked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>My irritable mood had entirely dissipated by now. I just shook my head, not really in answer to her question, but more in disbelief at everything that had just happened.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Him and Rosalie aren’t together,” I said, ignoring the way her eyes widened. “By the way, do you have gum, or a tic tac?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ava! How’s your hand?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alice greeted me in History, a brilliant smile adorning her face as she inspected my bandaged fingers. I smiled reassuringly at her. “Hand’s good, your dad patched me up real nice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m really sorry about that, by the way. You weren’t supposed to get hurt at my party.” I was about to brush off her apology but then she leaned towards me and </span>
  <em>
    <span>sniffed</span>
  </em>
  <span>, taking a whiff at my collar, and I couldn’t help the blush that crept up my cheeks. “Um, what’re you doing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You smell even more like coffee than usual today.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. Yeah.” I glanced down at my jacket. I finally buttoned it closed if only to hide the coffee stain on my shirt. “Your brother drives like an animal.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alice </span>
  <em>
    <span>tsk’</span>
  </em>
  <span>d, shaking her head in disapproval, as though the spill on my person was a personal affront to her. “You mean you’ve been like this all morning?” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “And I didn’t even bring anything for you to change into,” she continued muttering to herself as she eased into her seat beside mine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I blinked a couple of times, tilting my head to stare at her. “I didn’t expect you to, you know. It’s nice that you-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She held up a petite slender finger, silencing me, but stared off to the side so I couldn’t see her face. I could still hear her mumbling; “-he’s going to be driving you for the foreseeable future…” Finally, she sighed, dropping her hand back to her desk and turning back to look at me again. “You should be fine. No more trying to drink coffee on car rides with Emmett, though, okay? You shouldn’t have to go the entire day in filthy clothes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I chuckled, confused. “Alright then.” I understood even more why the students here thought she was odd, but honestly it was so endearing, it was in no way a deterrent to our relationship. Cute girls like Alice can usually get away with murder, so I wasn’t sure what everyone else’s deal was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rest of class passed by without conversation, except for Alice making sure to take notes for me since my handwriting would be a bit stiff for a little bit. At the end of class, she apologized with a pout on her face because she couldn’t walk me to gym.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t be silly!” I laughed. “Why would you walk me to gym?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want to be able to take care of you, too!” She brushed her chilled fingers against the back of my hand that was holding the umbrella. “Use this, okay? Don’t forget.” With that, she spun in a flourish and disappeared amongst the crowd in the hallway. I blinked at the general area she walked, running her words over and over again in my head. Take care of me, </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span>?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I exited the building and made my way to the gymnasium, opening up the umbrella once again. I held tightly onto the handle, squeezing my left fist tight enough my fingers hurt from the effort, and I think about how this umbrella isn’t mine, I was simply borrowing it from Emmett while he walked around in the rain, unshielded without his own. Because he lent it to me, just like he lent me his sweater once, and my heart squeezed at the realization that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> taking care of me. He’s been looking out for me this entire time. He even took the coffee I made for him despite not liking coffee, just to placate me, because I was being irrationally upset and difficult and he knew the reason before I did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When I walked into the gym, Emmett quickly jogged up to me and slid me a piece of paper, evidently a doctor’s note from Dr. Cullen himself, before disappearing into the locker rooms to get changed. I couldn’t make eye contact with him the entire time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I showed Coach Clapp the note, which he had glanced at brusquely, before dismissing me to sit on the bleachers. I tried and failed to look over notes and work on homework, but my eyes kept wandering over to wherever Emmett was on the court. It looked like softball was going to be the game for the next week or so (and I was suddenly thankful for my fractured fingers). Emmett was quick, light on his feet as always, but he seemed… bored today. He wasn’t laughing like he usually did. The only time his face lit up, when his smile reached his eyes, is when we made eye contact and he waved enthusiastically at me. I didn’t want to admit that it made me feel special.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The cafeteria was a better place for me to work on homework. Or, at least it would’ve been, had Jessica not tried giving me a heart attack.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why aren’t you sitting with Emmett?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” I looked up at her from my History textbook. “I haven’t sat with him this whole time, why would I start now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, because you two are dating now,” she supplied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. This got the attention of several other people at the table, all of them stopping their conversations to look at me with incredulity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re dating a Cullen?” Eric asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Angela looked pensively beside him. “I did see you two come to school together.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that why he was all over you on Saturday?” Mike grumbled. His mouth was turned down in a frown, looking more disapproving than curious like everyone else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, shut up, what!?” I shook my head at all of them before looking at Jess again. “Why do you think we’re dating?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jessica just shrugged. “You told me him and Rosalie aren’t together.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And so you thought- Jess, do you think two plus two equals ten? Because that’s what I’m getting from your wildly incorrect calculation.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On instinct, I whipped my head around towards the Cullen table and immediately made eye contact with Emmett. He smirked and winked in what I could only assume to be the most unfortunate coincidence of my life, because there’s no way he could hear our conversation from all the way over there. I turned back towards my table, clasping my palms together in front of my mouth as I closed my eyes. I just have to count to ten to get my heart back to beating at a normal human pace. One, two, threefourfive-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait, so I’m wrong?” Jessica interrupted. “You told me they’re not together and then asked me for a tic tac. I thought you had plans to, like, kiss him or whatever. I thought you were gonna make a move.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yeah, sure, that makes sense. Whatever.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I sighed, opening my eyes to look at Jess with reproach. She hunched her shoulders defensively in response, mouthing an ‘I’m sorry’ before turning to entertain a different conversation that the boys had gone back to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Angela gave me an apologetic smile. “Sorry for jumping to conclusions.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hah, it’s fine. Honestly, in a roundabout way, her reasoning kind of makes sense. I get the math there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her smile broadened into one of amusement now. “So, that aside, how’s your hand? Are you able to write at all?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It hurts a little but it’s fine. It doesn’t stop me from writing altogether, I just can’t take notes fast enough so I’ve been looking over other people’s notes all day.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you need anything, please let me know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I smiled appreciatively at her. “Thank you, Ang. You’re the sweetest.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>I found Emmett leaning back against some lockers right outside our Spanish class as I made my way down the hallway. Upon seeing me, he stood up straight and shot me a teasing grin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Pipsqueak, still mad at me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I sighed, feeling guilty despite his teasing. “I was never mad at you. I’m sorry for being such a jerk this morning. I meant it when I said I’m not a morning person.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So I gotta deal with your crabby ass tomorrow, too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey!” I jabbed my finger at his chest, smiling in spite of myself. “You’re the one that </span>
  <em>
    <span>insisted</span>
  </em>
  <span> on this arrangement. You’re just gonna have to deal with it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He just chuckled and shook his head as he walked with me into the classroom. When we got to our desks, Edward nodded at me. “Ava, how is your hand?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I blinked in surprise at his courteous tone. “Oh, fine, thank you for asking. Um. Oh, actually,” I turned in my seat to look back at Emmett. “Do you think you can take notes for me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emmett let out a low whistle in response. “I dunno, pipsqueak, my handwriting’s not the best… but I’m sure Eddy here would love to help.” He tilted his head towards his brother imploringly, and I followed his gaze. Edward’s eyes lingered on Emmett’s for an exasperated second before he gave me a tight smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course. It’s the least I can do for you after my brother damaged your hand.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, it was an accident,” Emmett huffed. “And </span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span> punched</span>
  <em>
    <span> me</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The bell rang, and I gave Edward a thankful smile as I turned forward in my seat (and waved hello to Benjamin sitting behind him! I almost forgot we were in the same class </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I was grateful that I had someone taking notes for me, because despite my best efforts, I could not bring myself to focus on Mrs. Goff’s lessons. Just like gym class, my mind kept wandering to the boy sitting behind me. Turns out your crush can become an even bigger distraction than usual once you know they’re single. Not that I had a chance, not that I was brave enough to do anything about it. But I kept playing over and over again every time his hands held my body in some way over the weekend, touch feather-light and grounding, and how it held a different weight to it now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A relieved sigh escaped my lips once class was over. Pretending to pay attention for an hour was exhausting. Edward got my attention and held out his notebook for me to take. “You can take it home with you, if you’d like. I don’t need them today.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, Edward, that’s very…” I trailed off when I saw his notes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Edward’s handwriting was meticulously perfect and gratuitously pretty, overbearingly so. His letters slanted across the page, almost script-like but without ever truly connecting. He gave tails to letters that don’t typically have tails, looping and curving down and to the left. His Q’s were swan-shaped, for some reason. This would’ve been hard enough to decipher had the notes been in English, but in Spanish? I was bound to get a migraine if I tried copying these notes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is something wrong?” Edward asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have the handwriting of a dead poet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Edward’s mouth opened and closed again, unsure of how to take my comment, as Emmett guffawed beside him, clapping him on the shoulder. I handed him back his notebook, smiling apologetically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. Just, uh, I don’t think this’ll work. I think I’ll just take my chances with Emmett’s notes. Thank you, though!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Notebook in hand, Edward blinked a couple of times, shook his head, and then left without another word.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Emmett waited for me to gather my stuff, he asked, “you sure you’ll be okay with my notes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Depends. Is your handwriting also from the 18</span>
  <span>th</span>
  <span> century?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Definitely not.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then yeah,” I smiled. “I’ll manage.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>this is the last chapter i'll be posting for this fic! it is in no way finished, but the more i wrote, the more i realized that there were certain things i no longer wanted to do, as well as themes i wanted to re-visit and flesh out. i was hoping it'd be as simple as just going back and re-writing each chapter, but it is evolving into a different story in my head that no longer matches what i have so far.</p>
<p>i'll be re-writing this fic entirely, and hope to post this new story once i'm confident about the direction!</p>
<p>thank you for reading this far, thank you for the kudos and bookmarks. seeing the hit count go up for this always made me so nervous and excited! i hope to share more fic now that i've gotten back into the rhythm of writing again, and i hope you'll stick around for it~</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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